News
How to say sorry to someone you hurt (part two)
Last week we highlighted about six tips on how to apologise to someone when you are at fault. Here is the final part.
Your partner’s feelings are always valid
Sometimes, people are too dismissive of how their partner thinks or feels. Imagine your partner comes to you because they feel hurt or upset about something. If you respond with, “you were hurt, I never knew,” it essentially invalidates their feelings.
It doesn’t matter that you didn’t know you hurt them or didn’t realize someone could feel hurt by your action or inactions. What matters is that your partner feels hurt.
You might not understand why they feel that way, but you should say sorry because they are someone you care deeply about.
Get rid of your expectations
In some cases, a spouse will get furious when their apology is not accepted right away. The spouse shows up and apologizes for something, and their partner needs time to process it.
Rather than accept their partner’s apology, the individual gets upset again. You know how you would act or behave in a certain situation, but that does not mean you have any clue about how your partner will actually behave.
If you did something horrible, your partner may not be able to forgive you right away. They may even get angry again when you show up to apologize. You cannot control how someone responds, so get rid of all of your expectations. Whether your spouse wants some space or needs to wait to forgive you, listen to them.
Show your sincerity
After a fight, you need to show your partner that you won’t make the same mistake again. People can often understand when you make a mistake once, but their understanding evaporates if you make the same mistake over and over and over again. Instead of throwing your relationship away because you can’t learn to change, show your partner through your words and actions that you are honestly working to change.
Don’t do it again
If you have managed to apologize and get everything back on track, do not mess it up. Once you have recovered from a fight, it is time to get your relationship in order again. The best way to show that you are genuinely sorry is to never make the same mistake again.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has urged Ghanaians to make regular physical activity part of their daily routines to improve blood glucose control and reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
It said regular exercise helped the body use insulin more effectively, thereby improving blood sugar regulation and contributing to better overall health.
The call forms part of the Service’s 30-day diabetes awareness campaign ahead of this year’s World Diabetes Day, which is observed on November 14.
The GHS encouraged people to engage in simple physical activities such as walking, dancing, cycling and gardening.
It noted that staying physically active did not necessarily require expensive gym memberships, as everyday activities, including household chores, could contribute to maintaining an active lifestyle.
The Service advised adults to aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week, stressing the importance of starting with manageable activities and gradually building consistency.
It further encouraged people living with diabetes to combine regular physical activity with prescribed treatment and a healthy diet to help manage the condition.
The awareness campaign, being undertaken ahead of World Diabetes Day, is aimed at promoting healthy lifestyle choices and encouraging early action to prevent and manage diabetes.
This year’s World Diabetes Day is being observed under the theme “early action on diabetes,” with November 14 set aside to raise awareness of the condition and the importance of prevention, early detection and proper management.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
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We take certain things for granted but it should not be so, especially if you can read, write and understand what is said on TV and Radio in English. Usually at 7:00 pm, I watch the news on one of the popular media channels and it was no big deal until a few days ago.
As I listened to a radio presenter on a popular Fm station, the important role my parents played in my life, as far as education is concerned, suddenly dawned on me. The usual style at the start of the programme, is to play a very funny interaction between a man who identifies himself as Barry …and a Ghanaian man called Akwasi.
This Barry guy apparently was talking to Akwasi by phone and he was speaking in English and Akwasi asked him to speak English, meanwhile Akwasi did not understand the English language, so he quickly asked the Barry guy to change to Twi, when he realised that the intonation was not the normal Ghanaian one.
I really had a good laugh and that was when I realised that my parents had indeed helped me by giving me access to education.
Imagine going to enter a place and they have written push on the door frame and because you cannot read, you decide to assume that you need to pull the door towards you and the embarrassment you will go through, pulling with all your might and especially at places with glass doors at the main entrance, everybody watching you and you struggling with the door for quite a few seconds before deciding to push.
It is in moments like that, that you either start blessing your parents or otherwise, depending on whether they sent you to school or not. There are things we consider as little that we take for granted but in reality, it is a big deal if you are not educated.
I recently had to go to an office located in the Ridge Hospital area and it was located on one of the floors of a story building. The protocol requires that visitors to the place log their details in a book provided for that purpose.
You write the date, your name etc., the usual. Imagine for a moment that you are Akosua Seiwaa, an uneducated person, who is going to see someone in one of the offices in the building and you are required to fill the log book with your details. It suddenly generates a stressful situation for you.
The FM programme really set me thinking about how grateful we ought to be to our parents or guardians who gave us access to education such that we have the confidence to go boldly to all kinds of places without stress.
Just imagine going to a hospital and given a whole bunch of medication. As is usually the case, the pharmacist mentions your name and immediately starts telling you the number of times and the various dosage you are to take them.
He or she then goes to the next person and chances are you are likely to forget some of the instructions. If you are uneducated, how are you going to identify the right dosages and any other special instructions you need. There is a saying that ‘If you can read this, thank a teacher.’ I think it should rather be, ‘If you can read this, thank your parents.’
There was another recording of a hilarious conversation on the show between two ladies one of whom was uneducated and did not understand “It’s been a while”. Apparently a church member met her and she said to her it’s been a while and did not know how to respond till a young girl she was walking with explained to her in Twi “Ose ohuu wo aky3”.
She was bitterly complaining to the friend that had it not been the young girl, she would have been greatly embarrassed with this “it’s been a while, it’s been a while” that the church member said to her. Do not laugh alone. Share. God bless.
