I was raised Jewish, but my father is Catholic, and his brother, my uncle Gary is a Roman Catholic priest whose name is Father Gelfenbien. Holidays at the Gelfenbiens are never boring and one year my uncle made us an Easter turkey stuffed with matzo meal (He’s a full-service kind of priest.)
Plus, I went to church camp as a kid. Long story. I’ll share it another time.
Anyway, since I was raised with Jewish and Catholic influences, I’ve completely cornered the market on guilt. For the number of times I’ve said “sorry” in my life, I may as well be Canadian. That’s why it is second nature for me to apologize for things… All. The. Time.
It’s frustrating. I feel bad instinctively because I care about people. However, like many, the word “sorry” slips out of my mouth more times than I care to admit.
That’s why today I let go of apologizing for something I didn’t even do. (Yup. I even apologize for things I’m not responsible for.)
My client emailed me about a project and I wanted to say “sorry we never spoke over the weekend” when, in fact, the reason we never connected was because she never responded to my message.
Seems like NBD (that’s “no big deal,” Mom), but when your default is to say sorry, it’s a good feeling to not take on that guilt.
If you fall prey to this habit, the good news is you can easily zap that from, at least your email communication, with this awesome “Just Not Sorry” plugin. It’ll alert you when you use the words “sorry” or “just” in emails.
As far as talking to people IRL, I try to say “excuse me,” but other than that, sorry (not sorry) I can’t help you.
Are you guilty of saying sorry all the time, too?
Tell me in the comments below and what you do to avoid it. Thanks!
