What is the true meaning of being sorry? The true meaning lies within the person who is sorry for what has been done.

When words or action that has caused hurt to others resulted in the person being sorry and there is much to regret about. The words said can be hurting or action done could have caused much grief to others and the person who acted out. When the person is really sorry, there is much anguish and there is no way to turn back to the time before the event happened.  

How sorry is “sorry” we may asked of the person? The person can express their regrets and no matter how others perceived of the person, only the person knows what he or she is going through. The depth of regret is only felt by the person who has performed the act that caused much grief to others and to him or herself. 

A person may express that he or she is sorry about what had happened and not be sincere about it. This does not reflect the true meaning of sorry. How does another person know whether this person is truly sorry of what has happened? Only the person knows within him or herself. 

A person who is truly sorry will find all means and ways to make amends and compensate for what has been said or done. No matter how difficult the situation is there will be attempts made to make good of a situation to allow the people involved to move on and hopefully start to build trust in their relationships. 

Apologies and acts of services are ways to know the true meaning of being sorry. In this respect, allowance can be made for the person to make good of what happens as when there is no forgiveness forthcoming can force the person into a corner and that will make the situation worse. Understanding that forgiveness does not take away the sadness of what had happened but it frees the aggrieved and the person causing the hurt the emotional baggage that can weigh the parties involved down.

Asking forgiveness from the aggrieved parties can indicate the true meaning of being sorry by the person causing hurt. Most importantly, it takes a big person to forgive and knowing when the person is truly sorry for their actions, can be felt by the person taking action to make amends for their deeds.  

As the famous poet, Alexander Pope quoted: “To err is human, to forgive, divine”.