Word Prompt – SORRY – Alex Fleksher

Whenever I think of the word “sorry,” I think of a PJ Library book my children received called The Hardest Word. To cut a long children’s story short, the hardest word is “sorry.” A hard word for children to say, or we wouldn’t have to insist our toddler says it when he hits his little sister. And a hard word for adults to say, as saying sorry makes us own up to our mistakes and accept the blame.

Saying sorry makes us vulnerable. It’s an admission of fallibility, that we erred in our judgement and hurt another person. Saying sorry can be very challenging for someone insecure; it is an affront to their self-worth. Apologizing can feel like an act of weakness. But saying sorry is an act of strength. Being able to say sorry with confidence and humility is actually the greatest reflection of healthy self-esteem.

Yet there are times when we do not receive the apology we need. First, we may need to acknowledge that the other person doesn’t have the capacity to say “I’m sorry.” We then move to working on accepting the absence of the apology and not needing the apology to validate and justify our reality. We want the apology so that we can move forward, but when we don’t get it we have to strengthen all our inner reserves to realize we can move forward on our own.

None of this is easy – sorry is the hardest word. If we don’t always get it graciously from others, let’s offer it genuinely and wholeheartedly when it’s our opportunity to say the word. Sorry is also the most healing word.