I'm Sorry! Is it hard to say?

Have we all heard of the song 'Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word' by Elton John? It's a beautiful ballad which later had a cover done by so many other great artistes and musicians. Two of my favourites are the cover done by English boy band, Blue featuring Elton John himself that made the song more upbeat and the other by Kenny G & Richard Marx; both covers had the lyrics remain beautifully harmonised vocally.

I am often told not to say sorry freely because I must safeguard my self respect.

I was commented, 'You'd only say sorry when you have done something wrong!'.

I was asked, too, 'Why do you keep saying sorry?'.

Sorry is a word that tests one's humility.

Sorry is a word that tests one's ego.

I believe we are all born humbly confident but throughout life experiences, we build our ego and pride. Ego and pride if not well guarded can get too big that could swallow our humility.

Ego and pride can affect many aspects of our lives including our interactions or communication with people, our relationships, our work, our business, our family, etc. Most of all, it affects how we view ourselves and where we place ourselves among everyone.

Saying sorry does not mean we are weak.

Saying sorry does not mean we are lack of confidence.

Saying sorry does not mean we lost that fight or argument.

But if we indeed have made a mistake, yes, we ought to say 'I am sorry'.

Saying sorry means this relationship matters.

Saying sorry means this business matters.

Saying sorry means we treasure the other person.

Saying sorry when we have indeed made a mistake build a more trustworthy reputation of oneself.

One of the things with saying sorry is not just the words that matter. What follows thereafter matters especially when a wrong is done. What will be the remedy? Can we work this out together? Is there something that needs to change?

Saying sorry is not only applicable to someone younger than we are. As a leader, if we have made a mistake, we apologise. As a parent, if we have said something that hurt our children, we apologise. Saying sorry has no correlation with our age, our role or our status.

Many may feel that saying sorry will make them lose self-respect. Is this really true? I am not so sure myself. What I do know is being able to say sorry with true intention of achieving peace, harmony, accountability will in turn gain more respect. Leaders who apologise when a mistake is done gain more support from the team. Parents who apologise when they cross their children will gain more respect from their children because the children feel that their feelings are respected.

We do not lose our self identity saying sorry but grow our humility within us instead; which has always been with us.

I would have love to end this piece of writing with a piece of music but ....ahhh ... I shall leave it at your leisure to enjoy it.