“Remember when we were little, and we’d accidentally bite a kid on the playground? Our teachers would go, “Say you’re sorry.” and we would say it, but we wouldn’t mean it. Because the stupid kid we bit… totally deserved it. But, as we get older, making amends isn’t so simple. After the playground days are over, you can’t just say it, you have to mean it. Of course, when you become a doctor, “sorry” is not a happy word. It either means “You’re dying and I can’t help”, or it means, “This is really gonna hurt.”
“As doctors, we can’t undo our mistakes, and we rarely forgive ourselves for them. But it’s a hazard of the trade. But as human beings, we can always try to do better, to be better, to right a wrong, even when it feels irreversible. Of course, “I’m sorry” doesn’t always cut it. Maybe because we use it so many different ways. As a weapon, as an excuse. But when we are really sorry, when we use it right, when we mean it, when our actions say what words never can… when we get it right, “I’m sorry” is perfect. When we get it right, “I’m sorry” is redemption.”
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