Apologising and forgiving – handling conflict
From the book – Chapter 34: Relationships and Communication
Apologising and forgiving
A good apology includes naming what you did, acknowledging the hurt, taking responsibility without excuses, saying how you will change, and asking how to make amends. “I’m sorry if you were offended” is not an apology.
Forgiveness is a choice to release resentment for your own peace. It does not mean excusing harm, forgetting it, or staying in danger. You can forgive and still set firm boundaries.
Read the full chapter – Chapter 34: Relationships and Communication
Stories from real life
- Three Hundred Contacts and Nobody to Call – Lena, twenty-six, moved to Toronto for a software job. She had hundreds of contacts on her phone and two video calls a week with her family…
- Three Words He Always Said – Carla and Diego, married eleven years in Mexico City, had the same argument most nights. She would say, 'You never help. You are just like your…
- I Am Happy to Talk, But Not Like This – Thabo, thirty-three, from Johannesburg, said yes to everything. He covered shifts for colleagues, lent money to his cousin who never returned it, and answered his mother's…
- She Stopped Seeing Her Friends – Ruth, twenty-eight, from Glasgow, met Callum at a party, and he was charming. After a year she noticed small changes. He checked her phone, was angry…
More on this topic: Helping a loved one with mental illness – family and relationships
More questions
- Understanding boundaries – relationships and communication
- Making and keeping friends as an adult – explained simply
- Understanding healthy and unhealthy relationships
- Abuse and violence – healthy and unhealthy relationships
- Grief, breakups, and loss of relationships – explained simply
- Understanding relationships and mental illness
- Understanding social media and connection – relationships and communication
- Which of these helps most in listening?
- What is true: an assertive message usually…?
- What is true: A healthy boundary is…?
- How to help a family member who is struggling
- How to set healthy boundaries in relationships