Have you ever said “I’m sorry” as a way to avoid truly taking responsibility for a wrong-doing?
Throw away lines don’t belong in our relationships. They create disconnection when there is an opportunity for connection. Sometimes we use “sorry" when we don’t want to really look at how we have affected and upset another. As you probably already know, avoidance likely does more harm to the other and rips us off from an opportunity to grow, learn, and be truly connected in our relationships.
It is challenging at times to push ourselves to look deeper. Especially when we have a socially acceptable phrase like “I’m sorry” that usually does the trick, and gets us off the hook.
In addition, I’m sorry is also missing any word that would express emotion. For example: I regret that I…. or I’m sad that I….
Sorry is a fine word. We aren’t trying to convince anyone to stop using the word. But it does more harm than good when it is used as a throw-away.
To connection