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This Thanksgiving, settle your unresolved feuds with an apology
By Lauren | November 26, 2008
Thanksgiving Day is upon us, which means that a great many Americans will be traveling long distances to sit down for dinner with family and friends. It’s a wonderful holiday - until one of those “issues” that seem to crop up every year rears its ugly head over coffee and pumpkin pie.
There are various ways to deal with long-standing frictions. Slate ran a funny piece today on how to win holiday political spats, offering winning arguments for both sides of the aisle. Apparently, some people really like a lively exchange of views after dinner, even if it degenerates into an outright shouting match. (If you’re one of those intrepid folks who’d rather fight about the recent election than watch football, check out http://www.slate.com/id/2205434/?GT1=38001.)
For gentler souls, though, holidays can be fraught with emotional peril as old hurts resurface, ongoing differences of opinion flare up, and past mistakes get brought up and commented upon all over again. (”Remember the Thanksgiving when Uncle Alex burned down the garage frying the turkey? …”)
If you think about it, chances are good that you’re going to see or talk to someone on Thanksgiving whose feelings you’ve bruised in the past. You can, of course, help yourself to more cranberry sauce and ignore it. Or instead, you can make this the year that you clear the air and make things right with an apology. A well-timed “I’m sorry” may be just the thing to make everyone you love a little more thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Topics: Apologies, Personal Ethics, ethics |
December 4th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Just a quick note to inform you that this article has been included in this month’s blog carnival of ‘Christian Family Information Exchange’. Thank you and please continue submitting your articles each month.