Stop Apologising. Start Living

It is good to apologise when we recognise that we have made a mistake. Do you also apologise though when you have not? Do you say ‘I’m sorry’ all the time? There are five reasons we might say 'I'm sorry...'

Type 1. Apologising for things that are, in fact, not in our control, such as, the weather, a delayed flight, someone else’s behaviour…

Type 2. Apologising for sanding out or shining.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Marianne Williamson

Type 3. Apologies arising out of a lack of self-respect.

Type 4. Those times when we say or do something that gives another sorrow - it may well be appropriate for us to apologise in these instances.

Type 5. When we know we have made a mistake.

In the case of type 4 or 5, what is important is our intention (our motivation behind our words) The right motivation comes when we realise we have made a mistake and are willing to learn from it. Then when we say ‘I’m sorry. I wont do it again’ we mean it. The other person too recognises the genuineness of our apology.

We wont do it again because we have learnt something, become wiser and moved on. It is important that we learn from our mistakes, otherwise we get stuck in regret and we try to turn the clock back to where it was before, even though we know that it isn’t possible to turn time anti-clockwise. When we learn from our mistakes, however, we turn them into something beneficial and this enables us to let go and move forward.