WARNING! Today’s topic is going to hurt…ME. A few months ago I required the assistance of a professional tradesman. I scheduled an appointment and he and his team arrived to execute the deliverables. A few hours later the work was well done but there appeared to be resulting damage. I was sure as one could be that the damage did not exist before the team’s work. Heck, I was even able to pull up recent pictures that, grainy as they were, appeared to make my case.
After a bit of polite disagreement, I stated I believed we would need to agree to disagree, paid the bill, and stated I sincerely wanted him to be correct; that the current damage was preexisting. Well, be careful what you ask for. The next morning I reviewed files from almost two years earlier that as best as I could make out, showed the exact damage was preexisting.
UGH! But, I knew what I had to do. There was no choice, I had to follow up and humbly apologize. I did. Of course I could have rationalized that I paid what was due and could just move on. But I couldn’t. You see not only (and I’m thankful for it) would my own ethics meter not allow it but something the tradesman said when we were ‘disagreeing’ stayed with me. He said, “I lie in bed thinking about these things.” OUCH!
Is someone lying in bed, going for long walks, yelling at family or pets and YOU have the power to provide relief? I’m not suggesting that you take ownership for other people’s actions, just yours. If you know you owe someone an apology, please be big enough to give it today. As you can see, my experience did not kill me and in fact allowed me to sleep better.
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