A little later I got a phone call from this business and the guy on the other end apologized profusely and I could tell he felt sincerely terrible for what had happened. He asked for my business back but understood if I wanted to go elsewhere. I decided to go back and was treated so well that I would recommend this business to anyone (and I told the guy that before I left).
The moral of the story for me is this: sometimes in life we do stupid things. We make bad choices. We hurt feelings. We step on toes. We forget important things. We don't think before we speak. We show up late. We complain. We yell. And I am guilty of all of these things plus approximately 45 other stupid things. Maybe more.
Right about now is when remorse plays a very important role. How we feel after the stupid things we do should guide us to what we should do next. This is what I am constantly working on with my kids:
"You bopped him on the head while you were frustrated and he ended up crying. How do you feel? What should you do next?"
"You told her you hated her because she was copying every word you said. Now her feelings are hurt. How does that make you feel? What should you do now?"
"You covered him in sand because you thought it'd be fun. Now he's crying sandy tears and spitting out sandy mud. Do you think he thought it was fun? How do you feel? What should you do about it?"
(And this fun list of examples could go on and on and on...)
What do you do when you wrong someone? You make it right. You apologize and you do what you can to make the situation better. How the other person responds is up to them, but for me personally, an attitude of remorse and humility goes along way! I've written emails, made phone calls, bought belated gifts, cried, and apologized for my stupid stuff and more often than not the person who I wronged doesn't feel so wronged after all.
Any wrongs you need to right?
KC
No comments:
Post a Comment