When Sorry Just Doesn't Cut It Anymore

There is nothing so heart warming as a sincere apology delivered after an honest human error. We have all rendered them from time to time and hopefully have received our share in due measure... it's the first step of forgiveness. But there comes a time when "sorry" becomes just another weary word, uttered in the same breath as an absent-minded "excuse me." Too often we become habitual offenders of insensitive words, actions, or behaviors that we inflict on those most willing to accept the inevitable apology. Mistakes are a given in the human condition, but repetition of the same mistakes over and over wear down the defenses of even the most saintly of forgivers and over time will erode all trust, and eventually all love. With each repeated "sorry" delivered there comes either the loss of conviction that what you did was really wrong, or the escalation of related dramatics where the forgiver suddenly becomes the apologizer. Either way it's a losing game brought about by those who are not aware enough to learn from their mistakes and correct them. That face to face realization with the self often comes after the irreparable damage is already done, and then the only one who is really sorry is the perpetrator who has ultimately lost his/her game.