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    31 Things I've Apologized For

    A quest to stop apologizing so much.

    Women tend to apologize more frequently than men, a study in Psychological Science shows. Whether it's in lieu of an "excuse me" or something we deem more of an offense than men, it's a subtle, self-defeating habit.

    To see if I could stop pardoning myself so much, I kept track of my apologies to family, strangers, and anyone else for a month (excluding the times I genuinely messed up and owed someone an apology).

    1. Being sleepy

    2. Writing a long email

    3. Asking a question

    4. Fishing change out of my wallet

    5. Someone holding the door open for me

    6. Being told where to swipe a credit card

    7. Having to pee

    8. Being bumped into

    9. My grumbling stomach

    10. A spill in the fridge

    11. Ordering a drink

    12. Being under the influence

    13. After taking a sip of soda and making that satisfied "ahh" sound

    14. Not getting back to someone right away

    15. Taking the elevator one floor

    16. Petting someone's dog

    17. Stepping over someone's foot

    18. Opening the door at the same time as someone else on the other side

    19. Being extremely excited

    20. Not following someone on Twitter I didn't want to follow

    21. Canceling plans in advance

    22. Asking to change the music on a road trip

    23. Squeezing past someone who's blocking an aisle and won't move

    24. Not being able to afford a personal chef

    25. For my bathroom's temperature in the summer

    26. Walking into a freshly cleaned room

    27. Texting a lot

    28. Not texting enough

    29. Texting late

    30. My phone dying

    31. For apologizing

    The exercise worked: After writing down every instance in my phone's notepad — accompanied with mental forehead slap — I felt my brain halt the words before they reached my mouth. I'd either omit them entirely or say "excuse me" instead.

    You can try boosting your confidence with the exercise if you feel you apologize too much too. Or add yours below, if you feel inclined!