How to Make a Sincere Apology

Apologizing never has been easy, and it never will be. Admitting when you're wrong can be one of the most difficult things you'll ever have to do. But despite the difficulty, it's important to let the person whom you've hurt or offended know that you are sorry...and sincerely sorry at that. Here's how to do it.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Be real and honest. If you're trying to fake your way through an apology, people will see right through it and it will only make the situation worse.

2. Stay calm. If you can maintain your composure and be kind about it, instead of getting all riled up once again, it will just show what strong character you have.

3. Offer up reconciliation. Suggest putting the situation behind and moving forward as friends. More often than not, people have a hard time arguing with that.

4. Forgive and ask forgiveness. An apology doesn't mean much if you can't simply say "forgive me." And if you're still harboring bitterness about the whole thing, you need to forgive the other person in order to make the apology even valid.

5. Get over it. Forget it. Don't resent the situation or the person, don't get bitter. What's in the past is past. Let's all move on.

Tips & Warnings

• If the other person doesn't want to accept your apology, it doesn't matter. You've done your part. Don't get into it again with them, wait for them to come around.
• Don't do anything if you don't mean it. It will just make your apology null and void.
• Don't use the apology as an opportunity to point out what the other person did wrong. If you go about it that way, you're missing the point entirely. And it will just make the other person even more angry.