Why do We Extend Time?

One experience I’d never forget, was the day I’d gone to buy a particular food item for the first time, and got back to find out my purchase was lower than the quantity usually sold for that amount. With that discovery, I laced my shoes, prepared myself for battle and went back to where I had purchased the item, ready for a confrontation. I was so prepared to argue with the seller, that getting to the shop, I pointed out what had happened, surprised when she simply replaced the missing quantity, apologizing deeply.

I was too stunned to speak, after hearing her apologize so quickly. Every vein in my body had risen on my way here, and I already believed that the only way out was a heated exchange with the seller. I was so ready for a fight, that her instant apology, rendered me shocked. Apparently, she’d miscounted while packing my order, and went ahead to short the ration. But because I’d heard stories of how sellers cheated unsuspecting buyers, i didn’t want to fall victim, ergo, the conviction that only a fight would solve it.

After that experience, I now find it weird when people fail to acknowledge their mistakes. You meet a person, and rather than admit they’re at fault in a situation, they’ll rather put the blame on the circumstances that led to that situation. Pointing out their faults, is like poking your finger in a lion’s den, because to them, the fault is never theirs. It’s always the people or their environment. A very rubbish behavior in my opinion.

Acknowledging your faults quickly, each time problem arises, is the best way to achieve results faster. This is because rather than going back and forth, trying to blame something else, you’ve admitted to it, and proceeded to the next step. This is something I’ve actually practiced since childhood - acknowledging my mistakes, and taking appropriate actions to rectify them.

What do you mean you’re finding it hard to apologize when you’re wrong? Someone even once told me that apologizing quickly, makes them feel like the other person won. I was so thrown off, hearing that statement, because this thing called ego, might just be the end of some people. Knowing deep down that you’re wrong, why would you go down the rabbit hole of prolonging a situation simply because you wanted your pride intact. Make it make sense.

This is another reason why I love being around people who are open to opinions. When people aren’t so adamant, and actually want to hear things from a different viewpoint, they can easily have their wrongs pointed out to them, and then apologize. It’s as simple as that. Mistakes were never meant to preserve your ego or your pride. They’re sometimes humiliating, they are sometimes frustrating, they’re sometimes shameful. What matters mostly is how we handle it.

Everytime I make a mistake, or have my errors pointed out to me, I own them fully, correcting myself almost immediately. I love to remind myself that no human is perfect. I wasn’t the first to make a mistake, nor would I be the last. So why shouldn’t I accept it and do what’s right? I did this a lot last year, and it saved me from unnecessary drama.

Thanks for reading.

Image above is mine.