We as human beings tend to say “I’m Sorry” a lot. As women we tend to say it a lot more often than our male counterparts. Why is that? Is it because we’re empathetic and feel the pain of others? Is it because we’re more honest and do not want to feel guilty about anything even the things that we don’t do? Is it because our perception of something offensive is different from others? I’m very curious to know.

I don’t know maybe it’s because as women we have been taught to be sweet, kind, and good-natured, but hasn’t everyone? Aren’t you taught as a child to have manners, to say please and thank you, and to apologize when you have done something wrong? Not to apologize for EVERYTHING! Well, I’ve been teaching my daughters to only apologize when you have done something wrong and if you’re unsure, ask. According to a 2010 study in the journal Psychological Science, “women have a lower threshold for what constitutes offensive behavior,” so are more likely to see a need for an apology in everyday situations.

I used to find myself apologizing for things when I did nothing wrong. Like when my husband asked me to wake him up by a certain time. I would preface it with, “I’m sorry but it’s (whatever time) and you asked me to wake you up.” I’ve never been a passive person, but for some reason I started noticing how much I was apologizing and once I started noticing it, I couldn’t UN-notice it. I see people doing it every day. It isn’t just women either. It’s men, women, and children. I saw a lady at the grocery store the other day who bumped into another lady and the other lady apologized to her! In my mind I thought, “why would she apologize when it wasn’t her fault?” The offending lady just smiled and said, “it’s ok!” I wanted to ask the lady who apologize why she did it, but I felt it was none of my business and it would just open up a can of worms which didn’t need to be opened.

This post isn’t just for women, it’s for everyone. Don’t apologize, especially to me, when you haven’t done anything wrong because I’ll be the first to say, “Stop apologizing!”