Haiku: An Apology
“More people should apologize, and more people should accept apologies when sincerely made.” Greg LeMond
Haiku: An Apology – Helps us cross the bridge of forgiveness
Words hauled as arrows
Left heart holes like missing teeth…
Where love once called … home
Seven years later
Unexpectedly contrite…
An apology
It was not in jest
Miles across the storming seas
A call … I’m sorry
Can an apology helps us get on the road to forgiveness? In 2008, Joe Vitale wrote an inspiring book, Zero Limits: The Secret Hawaiian System for Wealth, Health, Peace, and More, in which he shared the remarkable story of how a Hawaiian doctor, Dr Hew Len, used the ancient Hawaiian spiritual tradition of Ho’oponopono, to cure a prison’s mental ward patients. Before you respond with incredulity, let’s remember that words, and the use of them as affirmations, can have tremendous power on our psyche. Dr Hew Len’s approach consisted of having the inmates mindfully repeat four simple phrases: I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. While forgiveness and apologies might not rank high in some people’s repertoire, the act of offering an apology, when done with sincerity, can be quite healing.
More below!
“A stiff apology is a second insult… The injured party does not want to be compensated because he has been wronged; he wants to be healed because he has been hurt.” Gilbert K. Chesterton
Haiku: An Apology – Helps us cross the bridge of forgiveness
Please … forgive me
Memories flood the tear ducts…
Can shattered hearts heal?
Seven years too long
Retribution lost its way…
An invitation
We put pain to rest
A healing on the mountains
Across the pond … hugs
Can four simple phrases change everything about past hurts? The only way to find out is to give it a try with all our heart and mind. Whether we choose to accept an apology or let our ego be mired in unforgiveness is for us to choose. Life must go on! As Greg LeMond aptly said, Sincere apologies are for those that make them, not for those to whom they are made. I believe we better serve the planet when we make time to reflect on past hurts and open our hearts to heal and be a healing channel for others. Sadly, when we hold on to hurts, they stay with us waiting for an opportunity to rise in some passive aggressive act and lash out at others who remind us of the wounds we’ve carried around in our heart… Let it go.
This post was inspired by a WordPress Prompt: Discover Challenge: Apology – This week’s challenge is all about sharing an apology. Publish a post that commemorates a significant apology you’ve given or received. Tell us about an apology you wish you’d gotten. Create a poem offering an apology you’d always meant to give, but never did. Share an image of the other person involved in yours, or a painting showing how the apology made you feel. Write a short story about an apology gone wrong. (And don’t forget to add the…
We’re sorry if this challenge asks you to dig too deep*, but we’re excited to see what you create. * See what we did there? To help other participants find your response in the Reader, tag your post with #DiscoverWP.
Positive Motivation Tip: Apologies can be transformative… release and relax
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos : Apology/Forgiveness, Hugs, via Pixabay and/or via Wikipedia
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
I do like a sincere apology. I am always glad to accept them and move on.
Me too! 🙂
I guess it’s pride that makes people decide to not apologize…. or accept an apology. Thanks for sharing.
There is nothing more to rest a soul by forgiving someone who hurt you and at the same time, ask forgiveness to the one you’ve hurt.
It is kind of funny how difficult it is for many people to say “I’m sorry.” I have learned to swallow my pride on many occasions and fess up. I think it creates a more healthy relationship and restores trust. Just two simple words..
Just recently I learned that the hardest English word to say was “sorry”, so whenever you get an apology, even if it’s 20 years later, you should accept it. Life is too short to hold grudges.
Beautiful!
I have let go of so much because it is just not worth it to hold on to it. It is much less stressful to not worry about the past issues and things that have been done negatively.
I think it’s important to apologize when needed and to also sincerely accept an apology. Apologies truly can be transformative.
I feel the same way about this topic. Yes!
When my husband and I got married we both discussed how important it was to be careful with our words and actions when we were angry.
<3 <3
I love this post. I am not good at writing poems. Maybe I will just write a letter.
Go for it Lexie! 🙂
I agree more people should be willing to admit when they are wrong and apologize. It always makes me feel better when someone apologizes for something!
love your creativity.
TY! <3
This is a very beautiful post. I love coming to check them out each day. I love the quote at the top about apologizing. I completely agree with it too!
Likewise. TY! 🙂
Apologizing and accepting the apology seems like the hardest thing for people to do nowadays. Your post reminds me of that analogy.
Nice Haiku there! But if you mean to send out apology through this, if it is sincere, most probably it’s acceptable. But, if it’s just a way of saying sorry because you were busted, I must say ‘thanks for trying, I can make my own haiku.” lol
Thank you. It’s not an apology from me. It’s a creative piece about an apology from someone else.
You’re so talented. My grandfather was a poet and I love reading his journals.
You should share some on your blog!
Beautiful haiku! It really coincides with the compilation of amazing and inspiring photographs. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Cara! It feeds my creative side. 🙂
Forgiveness is so important. We just need to realize no one is better than anyone else. If I expect to be forgiven when I do wrong, how can I not forgive the wrongs of others. Thank you for this article, it is definitely something everyone needs to think about.
Much appreciated Ashley. 🙂
I think even a simple “I’m sorry” or “Please forgive me” is acceptable when it’s really sincere. Receiving a letter with those words is a good start to patch things up.
Apologies really can be hard. That may be why they have so much power though.
Indeed! <3
Apologies can absolutely be trans-formative. Apologies and forgiveness are very freeing.
They do help us move forward!
I love this. Forgiveness is so important. Forgiving yourself too. That’s the a hard thing to do.
I have seen first hand how holding back forgiveness for an apology i will never get has affected me. i am working towards letting go of that so i can not be affected in the future
Amen to that!
I had a very difficult time expressing my apology to a relative. He treated us very badly, especially after my father passed. I screamed at him once, demanded him to stop. When he fell ill and lapsed into a coma, I mustered all my strength to go to his hospital bedside and whispered in his ear, I’m sorry, Uncle. Please forgive me. It felt as if a huge boulder was lifted off my chest. Apologies are definitely freeing.
So sorry about your loss, and thank you for taking the time to help us all understand why forgiveness and apology are vital to our spirit. <3
Sometimes all it takes is to hear the word ‘sorry’ from someone who has hurt/offended you. But more often than not, ‘sorry’ is the hardest thing to say.
I’ve learned that first hand, whether a person deserves it or not. Forgiveness & an apology is a way of self healing if nothing else. Because the stress you carry around with that will just eat you alive.
Saying sorry is probably one of the hardest thing to do. It takes a lot to muster some guts to be able to say that word “sorry” especially for the very proud. But it’s right to acknowledge one’s fault and apologise.
I think if you’re apologizing via Haiku, it’s more heartfelt. It really takes skill, a lot of thought and effort just to construct a Haiku.
Thank you Franck! I’m still learning the form. 🙂
I agree that we all should possibly apologize more than we do. But, perhaps if we were more careful about we said to begin with that might be better.
It should be a great world we have if only everyone just know how to say their apologies and be forgiven at the same time.
I love your quote at the top! Too true! Apologizing is never a bad thing.
A stiff apology is absolutely a second insult. If you can’t be sincere, then why even try.
Exactly!
Yes, I agree with Greg LeMond! This world could be a better place to live with if we learn to apologize sincerely and if we learn to forgive truly. The challenge is so wonderful and exciting!
Likewise… less hurting is needed.
I will not shy to admit if I made a mistake. I can also forgive right away but will never forget the moment when you hurt me.
I do get the idea of accepting an apology but I honestly think not every apology deserves acceptance..
I think it is harder to forgive than to apologize…at least for me. I am one that thinks long and hard about forgiving someone.
I agree. A stiff apology is a second insult. Better not apologize at all than give me that crap.
Great Haiku, it has been long time since I read a Haiku, i used to write them and read them a lot in school, so thanks for having me relive some of my childhood.
True, apology is acceptable when it comes from the heart. You have interesting and lovely collection of photos here.
Ah, I miss writing haiku. I am glad to have stopped by your blog. Kudos to you for such lovely little poems 🙂
Thank you so much for the kind words… Writ some again.
I find forgiveness so easy but forgetting it’s a different story. I’ll take this article as a challenge for myself to learn how to forgive and forget.
We could all learn to forgive. TY!
I’ve often wondered about the difference between saying I’m sorry and I apologize. We say sorry so often. But do we apologize??!!
Apologies are one of the hardest things in the world to give, I think!
It is really so touching to read your apologies in haiku. The effort to make the sentiment fit the structure of this short poem makes the apology sound more sincere.
What gets me are people who apologize and then seemed shock if you don’t accept it. As if you are supposed to be obligated
Apologies can be hard to accept and hard to give!
True… but we should try anyway. 🙂
I believe that accepting your mistakes helps you to become a better person.
A very interesting post, and surreal pics.
An apology is a very important factor to keep a healthy relationship. If everyone learns how to apologize when committed mistakes, then we will have a healthier world!
The most sincere apology is the one that really touches the heart so keep on apologizing whether big or small mistakes you committed!
A call … I’m sorry. This is my favorite part, a simple call can lead to a thousand unexplained moments of forgiveness.
Glad you liked it.
Lovely poem about forgiving and forgetting! It takes a special person to know when to apologize for their mistakes 🙂
An.apology as it sounds, is not that easy in our daily lives. Sometimes even though heart says yes to it but mind takes it as an.insult.
Yes, agree that we have to apologize genuinely. Leaving aside your ego and apologizing is a great thing.
An apology when said with deep sincerity can change the whole picture. Esp. when time is allowed to let wounds settle or heal. In some cases though an immediate apology heals most hurts!
love that kanji letter of forgiveness! so cool. Great post.
Haiku’s are epic fun to read
Thank you so much. Do you write haiku? I must return the visit and read yours too. 🙂
I have the worst time accepting apologies. I just don’t trust them. It is something I need to work on.
I believe if an apology is sincere, it can have healing power. That’s amazing to me still, about the spiritual tradition. I love the opening three lines. Those do hit home. I’m teaching children who have not been able to function in the traditional classroom without getting kicked out. Most of them have serious crimes under their belts. The damage they do to one another with their words though, is what pierces me every time.
Forgive usually comes with the word forget. Forgiving and Forgetting are 2 different things. While sincere apologies might help, they usually can’t mend the hurt that has been caused.
Ask for forgiveness is such a powerful act! Forgive somebody is even more powerful! Love your post!
I just need something like “im sorry.. It was my fault.. it wont happen again.. Hope we could still be friends” or something like that
I think that an apology can absolutely help us along the road to forgiveness and it’s important to accept an apology and do what you can to work towards a resolution and a happier life going forward. Being someone who has been known to hold a grudge, I can attest that it’s a difficult life to live. Forgiveness frees everyone involved.