How to Apologize to Your Friend

No friendship goes without its rocky moments, and too often we tend to hurt the people who are closest to us, intentionally or unintentionally. Admitting that you were wrong and simply apologizing to a close friend can sometimes seem like the hardest thing in the world to do. But with a little planning, you can make the process painless and successful.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paper and a pen

1. Wait until you are in a calm place to sit quietly and think about how you may have hurt your friend. Even if you think they are overreacting to something or if you can't completely understand the way that they feel, try to imagine yourself in their position.

2. Once you find yourself suitably relating to your friend, make a list of the reasons you think you may have acted the way that you did. Were you angry at something else and taking it out on your friend? Were you mad at your friend for something they had done and were never confronted about? Did you simply not understand what you were doing?

3. When you have comfortably understood your own motives, write down what you would like to hear if someone had done the same thing to you. Include the explanation of your actions, how you feel about your friend, and how it made you feel to know that you hurt their feelings.

4. Take your list and form a speech for yourself from it. You can rewrite and edit as you go. This helps you to have all of your thoughts in order and not let emotions get in the way of an honest apology.

5. Contact your friend. Tell them the speech that you have worked on. Make sure all of your statements are from the heart. Be simple and straightforward so that there is no more confusion. Your friend will be able to trust your honest and hopefully will have no problem accepting your apologies.

Tips & Warnings

• If your friend does not accept your apology at first you may have to give it time and trust that you did your best to make the situation better.