Late last year, we bought a coffee machine that came with a milk frother.

It’s become a favourite device of mine and we use it on a regular basis.

After I’ve made Karen and myself a cup of coffee, I have a decision to make.

Do I clean the milk frother now or do I wait until I need to use it again?

I can do it now, but it’s inconvenient and I want to drink my coffee.

Or I can wait until later, but it will be a little bit harder to clean the longer I leave it.

It’s much the same as apologising.

If I’ve done the wrong thing, acted insensitively or perhaps even accidentally caused offence to someone, I can choose to say sorry immediately or wait until a more convenient time.

If I do it straight away, it will be uncomfortable, but it will be done and the relationship will be reconciled.

Or I can wait until the right time (which never comes), choosing to ignore the reality that the longer I wait, the harder it will get.  Sometimes, we wait so long that we never quite get around to it.

We all make mistakes.  We all say the wrong thing and even the nicest person occasionally inadvertently offends someone.

When you do, learn to say sorry straight away.

Previous post – The Boy Who Learned to Swim – A Story About Continuous Improvement

Next post – The 5 Love Languages