Friday, October 22, 2010

Apologies

Are we truly sincere?
Odds are your mother taught you that it's important to apologize if you've done something wrong—and to graciously accept an apology when one is offered. The act of making amends is crucial to maintaining harmony in both our personal relationships and the world at large.

Apologies are so important that many hospitals train their staffs to say they are sorry to patients and their families following a medical mistake because they've found it deters malpractice lawsuits. Economists have shown that companies offering a mea culpa to disgruntled customers fare better than ones offering financial compensation.
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4 comments:

Julygirl said...

I believe people apologize more readily to strangers because it does not compormise them in any way and they do not lose the position of power they think they will lose if they apologize to a spouse, etc. It is also important to apologize to your child when you are wrong.

elena maria vidal said...

An apology is the first step towards healing.

Colleen Hammond said...

"Too much familiarity breeds contempt." (St. Augustine Scala Paradisi)

Maybe a deeper problem is no one ever thinks they're at fault. "What's good for me is good for me, and what's good for you is good for you."

Values clarification, they called it when they taught it in the public schools I attended in the 70s.

But I liked how the article also pointed out the woman who apologized all the time which was seen as a lack of security and insincerity.

Great article, Mary-Eileen. Thanks for sharing it!

elena maria vidal said...

Thank YOU, Colleen. It is all a matter of humility, and humility is truth. If we would stay connected to the truth which underlies genuine humility, we would not be afraid to aplogize; neither would we over do it!