“Sorry” is arguably one of the most used – and abused – expressions. “I’m sorry” or simply “sorry” is thrown away by people all around at the drop of a hat – whether for a horrible act or for a trivial mistake. And this looks normal as well, as we are taught from very young ages that we must apologise when we do something wrong.

In general, saying “sorry” is realising one’s mistake. When one says “sorry”, it shows that the person is regretful of his/ her action. The person to whom “sorry” is offered also hence feels better. And saying “sorry” is also about civility – like we say “thank you” and “welcome”. So we tend to consider a person “uncivilised” if s/he fails to say “I’m sorry” or “sorry”.

But “sorry” seems to have become very cheap these days. We tend to use this word without understanding its weight and value. Sometimes people commit a blunder and get away by casually throwing a “sorry”. In some cases, people often utter the word with extra stress and in high decibel only to hurt the sentiment of the person they have offended.

Human beings are prone to making mistakes. But the question is how often they are genuinely apologetic for their wrong actions. Apologies mean nothing unless they prompt a new action.

If someone genuinely feels regretful of his/ her action, it would be better if s/he shows genuineness while saying “sorry”, rather than uttering the word in passing, and the genuineness has to be felt by the person who has been offended – that “sorry” must carry the weight to make the person feel that the offender would not repeat the action.

It is good to apologise, but doing each act randomly and apologising without caring other people’s feelings makes no sense at all.

Positive thinking leads people towards positive actions. When the action is positive, there is nothing to be worried about.

A “sorry” does not solve all the problems; it, however, can mean a lot when said with conviction and genuineness. “Sorry” should not be an escape route for a mistake someone has committed, it should be a pledge that similar mistakes are not repeated.

It may be nice to  hear “sorry”, but at the end of the day it is just a word. After all, actions speak louder than words.