Forgiven

Someone recently apologized to me for something he had done — or actually in this case, something he hadn’t done — a few years ago.  I had thought it was in the past. I told myself that I had put it behind me and that I didn’t think about it — except when I did — and that happened more often than I would have liked.  It wasn’t a small thing to me, this harm — and yet I had tried to convince myself that it was. Bidness is bidness, I told myself, it’s not personal.  And yet it felt personal.  So when I saw this person not long ago at a public function and he made a point to search me out, to tell me how sorry he was to have acted as he did, I was incredibly touched.  I never expected to hear that — hadn’t really even thought about the possibility of that happening — and when he acknowledged the situation, I was grateful.  It takes a lot of strength to stand face to face and express remorse to someone to whom you know you have caused grief.  It takes a lot of chutzpah to look a person straight in the eye and say, “I apologize. I dropped the ball and I really let you down.” I think the world of him for making the effort to set things right.  I only hope I can emulate his courage, whenever I need to do that. “I’m sorry”…………two small words that have large importance.