Apologies

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Grotto Network

An apology is a way of showing somebody how regretful you are about your actions.

Abigail Frank, Drew Hardister, Journalist

An apology by definition is a regretful acknowledgment of an offense or failure. In informal situations, it may be called saying sorry. An apology is used both in situations of great meaning and in small moments throughout the day. The person who says sorry usually has thought about their actions and understands that the action they did was wrong. And usually the person who receives the apology will accept it and be grateful that person who apologized owned up and apologized for their actions.

“Sorry” written on a piece of paper to give to another individual. (Mindful.org)

I personally think that an apology holds a lot of weight, I would hope most people think like that actually. But when I know I need to apologize for a large mistake, I go over the apology over and over again in my head. Even then, it never seems to come out right. An apology, especially for something big should not just be thrown together at the last minute. It should be planned out so you can make sure the receiving party understands how sorry you actually are.

Jonas says “I like to use letters when I apologize because it’s hard for me to keep all of my thoughts straight.” He continued with, “I find it a lot easier to apologize after you tell the truth about what happened. You have to be open and honest when entering the conversation, or the apology won’t seem sincere.”

Even though I think apologies hold a lot of weight, I also think everything is my fault. I end up apologizing for a lot of smaller things, but in the moment they seem important, to me. When I interrupt somebody, I’ll apologize, when I accidentally bump somebody, I’ll apologize, when I assume something, I’ll apologize, and when somebody gets angry and it’s not at me, I’ll still apologize. I still think these smaller apologizes hold a lot of meaning. However, people get more annoyed with these type of apologizes. I apologize because I feel bad, not necessarily because what happened was my fault.

Apologizing to a friend can help mend the friendship or at least make sure you’re civil with each other. (WikiHow)

Eli also apologizes for a lot of small thing like I do. He says, “I apologize because I feel bad and I want to people to know that. I don’t understand why people get so annoyed about it though.” He continued on to say that, “I know apologizing for things that aren’t my fault is a bad habit, but I also don’t know how to tell people I feel bad without people thinking I’m being rude or annoying.”

I recently apologized to two people for something that I definitely shouldn’t have done. I took responsibility for my actions, wrote down a very thought through version of my apology, and finally worked up enough courage to actually apologize. The conversation was very revealing to their thought process and it allowed me to see a different side of things that I wasn’t considering before. I am very glad they were willing to listen to my apology and heard me out even after what I did.

“I hate the big apologies, they make me so nervous,” Lily said. “I remember I had to apologize to my parents one time because I did something really wrong. My hands were shaking and I was profusely sweating. It was so stressful and nerve racking. I’m really glad I did it though.”

An apology isn’t always one individual talking, sometimes it’s a conversation between two people. (ADL)

An apology can be so monumental for somebody, but you’ll never know unless you take a leap of faith and do it. An apology should never be something that you don’t mean, it should always come from the heart. An apology doesn’t mean anything to anybody if you don’t mean it and if it’s not sincere. Always make sure you think about what you’ve done and the actions you did to need to apologize in the first place. And remember an apology always comes from the heart.

Mr. Johnson said, “Nothing has ever soften a hard heart more then a sincere apology that has come from the heart.” He also continued, “I also will always respect an individual who works up the courage to come apologize, that in itself is no easy task.”