Stop Saying Sorry

I am one of those people. Those people who apologise. And then apologise for apologising. And apologise for apologising for apologising (you get the drift). There is a spiral that you can sometimes get into that has guilt at its heart. You do something wrong and over apologise, to the point where you then feel guilty for feeling guilty – the cycle is never ending.

This impacts sufferers of anxiety the worse. They can drastically increase their symptoms because of the guilt they feel for showing their anxiety. They try to manage their symptoms but then (because it was always going to) their symptoms show themselves, and they feel so bad that they increase the guilt they feel, making the symptoms worse and worse, until they are caught in an eternal loop of guilt and shame.

And we all feel it with them. I can’t tell you how many times conversations have included someone saying to me “Stop saying sorry”, including when I was in labour with my children! The more you apologise for who you are or what you do, the more you are telling the world that they can dictate to you what is right or wrong.

A lot of it has to do with the concept of being ‘polite’ or ‘nice’ – it’s good manners to apologise – if you have upset or hurt them in some way. But you can’t do that just by being you. It doesn’t work like that. Take accountability for any actions you take, of course, but don’t go apologising for who you are. The world needs you to be big and bold and uniquely you – not apologising for taking up space.