I don’t know about the rest of the world but here in Britain, we are known for notoriously apologising. Starting our sentences with, “Sorry but…”, even inanimate objects – you name it, we’ve apologied for it. Often, for absolutely no reason what-so-ever. I am guilty of this for sure – I apologise for breathing sometimes but why do we feel the need to apologise relentlessly for things we do not need to be sorry for? Whoever you are and wherever you are in the world, here are 7 things you never, ever have to apologise for (even though you and I both know we do)
1. Not stopping to talk to neighbours. We’re busy. They get it. My parents even go as far as not leaving the house if the neighbours are outside because they don’t want to ‘get stuck talking to them‘. Then when I suggest, “well why don’t you just say hello but you’ve gotta shoot off” they say, “no we can’t do that it’s rude”. Is it? Not really.
2. Not going somewhere. Yes, it’s polite to apologise if you’ve been invited somewhere and can’t make it for any reason – sometimes – but don’t feel bad for it. Ill? Don’t feel bad. Already busy? Don’t feel bad. Just generally can’t be bothered and would rather spend the evening curled up with a pizza and watching Netflix? Don’t feel bad. You rock those pjyamas and don’t you bare feel overly apologetic for it.
3. Making your way through a crowd. “Sorry, can I just, excuse me, I’m sorry but can I… Oops, sorry”, sound familiar? Why do we insist on apologising for trying to get somewhere? Why don’t we just say “excuse me can I get through there please”, and be done with it? Why is it our fault that other people are blocking our path? Why!
4. When you’re literally helping someone out. Imagine the scenario: Someone drops something on the floor. You seem them drop it, go to pick it up and hand it back to them. On approaching the owner of the dropped item you start your conversation with, “Sorry but you dropped your wallet“. What is that. What. Is. That.
5. Not having the exact right amount of money to pay for something. Why do we apologise when we don’t have the correct change? To a shop assistant / someone who we are literally giving our money to? Who’s literal job is to give us change? Why are we like this? What happened to make us so notoriously apologetic?
6. Starting every email with “sorry for the late reply”. I mean yes, sometimes this MAY warrant an apology if you’re emailing like the Queen or something but people are busy. All human beings are busy. The person on the other end of your email is busy. Explain to them that you’ve been busy but don’t apologise for it.
7. Having a life. I see this one in blogging so much and I touched on it in my post about blogging affirmations and on a slightly more serious note than the others, you do not need to apologise for having a life, being busy, taking you time or just needing a time out. The amount of bloggers I see apologising for not being online or not posting is actually quite sad because girl you do not owe anyone anything – most of all an apology. So do you. If you’re busy, your readers will just have to put up with it. If you need time away from blogging for personal reasons, then you take as long as you damn well need and don’t for a second type the word, “sorry“.