All in the Translation

All In the Translation

I knew this would happen. My best friend’s think I’m too easy on people. That I apologize too often. “Get a grip!” they say. They’re not wrong… but, they’re not right either.

Over the years I've also felt outrage about some things, still do! But after a while I realized that getting in arguments with people never solves those issues. We would yell and scream and finally break away from each other actually more upset! Believing the whole time the “other person” was an idiot! It did nothing but ruin our moment, and sometimes our relationship.

I do have opinions, often very strong. But I don’t feel the need anymore, to force other people to join in. I’ve seen plenty of situations where, while I don’t agree with the person, I can see why they have their opinion. I probably would too under their circumstances. I just don’t happen to be there. So, over the years I have found a better way to handle it. I just say “I’m sorry.”

I say “I’m sorry” a lot. Often people say things back like, “You don’t need to be sorry.” Or “It’s not your fault.” And people I know actually scold me for saying I’m sorry too much!

However, I say “I’m sorry” to make the person I’m saying it to feel better. It’s a nice thing to say. Sometimes it means I wish you didn’t feel that way, or I care about you even when we disagree. It’s up to the person to translate it however they want. Which is good because other times it means I’m sorry you’re such a jerk, or I’m sorry I walked into this room just now, or I’m sorry that this didn’t happen to you a lot sooner… It’s really all in the translation, right?