I had this thought while sitting - in my underwear - and pondering over society and life in general.

This thought struck me like a train, it gave me much to think about which ultimately lead me here, on Steemit, drafting an article about it. We all see it day to day, perhaps many of you have also felt it. It's that feeling you get when you apologize to someone. For most people, it's a feeling that somehow makes you feel "degraded", while at the same time for others, it is a feeling of happiness, almost as if you have had a huge weight taken off of your back. You might have asked yourself this question, at some point.

Why do people feel "ashamed" when apologizing?

Let me share a personal experience.

A few months ago, I was on a message board. The OP of the thread had asked us to discuss a certain world event, I can't remember what it was. But I do remember that it was pretty frustrating, it made you angry. So, there was this comment about how the commentor agreed with the general argument presented by someone in that world event, but not completely. I felt this urge to post about how the commentor was "incredibly high" and there was "something wrong with him to agree with that twisted thing". In my blinding rage of anger and fury, I had come off as hostile to that person who had only tried to contribute to the conversation. I didn't think much of it after I had posted it.

Fast-forward a few hours. A notification appears in my account, that person had replied and explained his comment. I took a look at it and in the process, had the fortune to look at my own comment too.

I realized my mistake. I knew I was wrong. It was like someone gutted me. It was a horrible experience. I was rude to someone who had done nothing but voice his own opinion, something that I think should be done more often. I scrambled to write him an apology. I saw the point he was trying to make, and realized that he was indeed right.

I apologized to him, and wrote my own view of the situation, agreeing with him. As soon as I clicked that button, "Post", I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my back. It was like I was set free. It felt like I was enslaved by my own words but now that I had taken them back, I felt infinitely better.

If you can make someone's day better by just saying three words, "I am sorry," then is there anything better? So why, oh why, do people tend not to apologize thinking it makes them look "small"? We all know that someone who thinks,

An apology? Bah! Disgusting! Cowardly! Beneath the dignity of any gentleman, however wrong he might be.

I think that at the core of it all, the person who should apologize, even if he knows that he is wrong, thinks that he should abide by what he said because if he disowns those words, it makes him a less reliable, truthful, and trustable person. It is beneath him, it makes him smaller. He thinks all of this even if knows he is wrong. And so begins the saga of never apologizing and sticking with what you said because saying those three words, "I am sorry", are the destruction of your person and your ego.

Personally, I think that there is no man greater than one who admits his mistake and apologizes. He is not dwarfed by any man, instead all are dwarfed by him for he had the courage and dignity to admit his mistake and apologize.

When I apologized to that person, on the internet, I was struck by this thought that there are so many people who go on each day, hurting people, and don't even realize that they've done something wrong. In their mind, they are right. I think that this is the root cause of many issues in today's world, from terrorism to shop-lifting. Any and everything can be classified under this mindset.

I think that we should be more forgiving and more apologetic because to me, that is the only way for us to move forward.