Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.
Bruce Lee
To err is human. No one is perfect, and no matter how hard one tries to attain perfection, it is an impossible summit to scale. As long as we are alive, we are bound to make mistakes. Given how inevitable they are in both our personal and professional lives, it would be foolish to even try to avoid committing them. Instead, we should strive to keep those mistakes from recurring, for that is what sets wise men apart from the ordinary.
That said, the fact that we are all allowed to go wrong every now and then shouldn’t be a reason for us to stop apologizing for our mistakes. It is easy to forget that over the course of this natural human behavior – one that is often even critical to our success – we end up hurting the people around us. In most cases, this isn’t intentional, even though the people we hurt might be tempted to think otherwise. And that is why we need to own up to our mistakes.
You will be amazed at how big a difference a simple apology can make. It has the potential to wipe out a mountain of misunderstandings and bitterness in the blink of an eye. But, as is often the case, simple things are very rarely that simple.
Unfortunately, our ego often misleads us into equating an apology with something negative. We erroneously believe that saying sorry for our slip-ups will give the other person the upper hand in the relationship. However, it actually takes a lot of courage to admit to one’s wrongdoings and ask for someone’s forgiveness. Saying sorry isn’t a sign of weakness. If anything, it shows how strong a person actually is.
Bruce Lee was a Hong Kong and American martial artist, actor and director. Also known for his interest in philosophy, Lee once remarked: “Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.”