i asked a room full of men the proverbial question.  “Who do you think has a harder time apologizing, men or women?”   You could have cut the testosterone with a knife it was so thick.   The guys opened up another beer and let out a few grunts as they all responded… WOMEN.

I then asked them to tell me about the last time they apologized.  The scene that unfolded next could only be described as something out of a cowboy movie — tumbleweed.   These dudes couldn’t tell me shit!   I got answers like “But I’m always right.” or “Beats the shit outta me.”  and my favorite, “I don’t ever need to apologize.”   

Really?  The crazy thing is, that when I asked women the same question, they said the same exact thing about men.    FIGURES. 

Your willingness to apologize speaks of your maturation, which is why I was pleasantly surprised when my girl Kaezel hit me up and told me she took it upon herself to apologize to someone.    At 20 years old, she’s in a better place than I was (a cocky ass sonnuvabitch who wouldn’t be caught DEAD apologizing).  

Apologies are a tricky thing..  no one likes to be wrong (guilty.) especially if the person they’re arguing likes to rub it in their face (guilty.) so they argue till they’re blue in the face, making point after point after point (guilty.)  

But as I got older, I realized that apologies are more or less the equivalent to magic.   Those two words can erase a night of fighting, forgive a simple mistake, and make the throbbing vein on my mom’s forehead disappear.    Those two words can convey so much more than just two words.   They prove to you and your loved ones that you’re capable of owning up to your actions, that you’re growing and maturing, and it’s almost like a rite of passage into adulthood when you can say sorry and MEAN IT. 

I’m a sucker for genuine apologies.  

We all make mistakes, but what differentiates us from them is simply our willingness to rectify it.