I feel vindicated about that apology thing

I’m really big on apologies. I mean, I hate to apologize, because it sucks to acknowledge that I was wrong, but I think it’s even worse not to say anything when I clearly wasn’t in the right. My mom never used to apologize when she was obviously wrong, and it made me angry. Why would she admit that she was wrong, and then not take the obvious (to me) next step and apologize to the person she’d wronged? I didn’t get it, and I felt that it undercut some of the things she and my father taught me about being a good person. She got over it and began to apologize like a normal person when I was a teenager (why then? I don’t know), and I really feel like it has contributed to our generally excellent relationship today.

And apologizing is not just for myself or my mom; I feel that everybody could benefit from including more sincere apologies in their life. I know it sucks to say sorry, but I feel that what one gets in return, the other person’s restored faith in your understanding of right and wrong, and perhaps in the universe at large, not to mention maybe forgiveness, is worth more than wounded pride. Anywhozit, here’s a list of some interesting psychological studies that were conducted in 2009, including one on apologizing.