Ariana Grande herself said it in her hit song, Needy, “Sorry If I say sorry way too much.” As a lady in this modern world, I find myself, friends, coworkers and acquaintances saying sorry for literally EVERYTHING we do.
In dance practice, girls will help one another by giving corrections and then say sorry. The other day a girl asked if I could take a picture of her and her friends and apologized multiple times while I was taking the photo. My friend told me one time a car hit her, and SHE said sorry. People, more particularly women, seem to have replaced many other words or what we are truly trying to say with sorry, instead of what we have actually meant to say.
I asked 20 girls if they think they say sorry too much, and all 20 of them said they believe they say it too much, even when they don’t truly mean it. Often times girls feel the need to over-apologize for their actions when our true intentions are something different. It is like we have gone on auto-pilot with a response to be sorry. I think us women, myself included, should stop saying sorry all the time, and appreciate ourselves and others and really communicate what we are truly trying to say, ( because we are too awesome to be apologizing all of the time!)
Here are some suggestions to take sorry out of your vocab in everyday life!
An easy fix is instead of saying sorry is to just flip it and say thank you.
When you’re late for a meeting, instead of sorry say…
“I appreciate you waiting for me.”
When someone is reviewing your paper or editing a project for you and they find an error, instead of sorry say…
“Thank you for helping me.” or “Thank you for catching that error!”
When wanting to contribute ideas to a project or conversation instead of “sorry but” say…
“I think we should” or “I love that idea, and I think I have more ideas to make it better”
When a server gets your food wrong, or you need something changed, instead of apologizing say…
“I appreciate you doing that for me, thank you!”
When someone gives you a correction in class, practice or in the workforce, instead of sorry say…
“Thank you for helping me get better” or “ I appreciate you taking the time to tell me!”
Try these easy fixes and see how quick your attitude will change into realizing the better in you!