Saying sorry when you’re wrong is hard enough—now imagine saying it when you aren’t wrong. The truth is that, even when we are wrong, we don’t entirely admit that. The human ego is fragile and stubborn. When we are found to be in the wrong, we still believe, in our small ways, that the other party is at fault in some way. Maybe we’ll concede that we are the most at fault, but it’s hard to say we’re entirely at fault. So since we’re so stubborn in that regard, it’s obviously very hard to say you’re sorry when you know, without a doubt, that the other person is in the wrong. You might be wondering, “Well, when would I have to do that?” Plenty of times. Getting what you want in life is all about diplomacy and diplomacy is not all about speaking your mind. It’s about navigating conversations, carefully, to get the desired outcome. And sometimes, that means apologizing when you didn’t do anything wrong.

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When your mom feels neglected
Moms always feel that we don’t call enough, don’t visit enough, and don’t care enough. It’s the plight of being a mom. You can take a full week off work, use all your vacation days, and buy an expensive plane ticket to visit your mom and in the end, she’ll complain that you didn’t stay an extra day. Don’t give her a speech about the plane ticket and the vacation days. Just say, “You’re right. I’m sorry. I really wish I could stay longer.” She just loves you and misses you.