The apology you never got

Welcome to Overthinking Island. Also, 7 other things worth knowing today.

Low power mode again today. I’m very excited to (re-)share this one though. It’s one of my favorites ever, and it resonated with a lot of people!

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Two years ago, a gray afternoon in mid-January, I was having a bad day.

I can't remember why. Maybe I was stressed about work; maybe it was the weather. Maybe I was concerned that all of the unusual high-altitude balloons I'd accidentally released from my backyard recently would spark some kind of national security crisis.

Whatever it was, I decided I needed a bit of "me time" at lunch, so I just grabbed a sandwich and pulled into a random parking lot—a medical center or an office park, I think; someplace where I could just sit for 20 minutes and be anonymous.

Then, I looked up and saw a sign with a quote bolted in front of me. And I haven't been able to stop thinking about it ever since:

"Life becomes easier when you learn to accept the apology you never got."

- R. Brault

Whoa. Mind blown.

Bill Murphy Jr. @BillMurphyJr

Wasn't in the best mood today. So at lunch I got a sandwich and pulled off in a random parking lot to eat by myself. I needed a few minutes. Then looked up and saw this quote on a sign right in front of me. Haven't been able to stop thinking about it!

You might know how I feel about inspirational quotes. This quote truly pulled me in. (Welcome to Overthinking Island.)

I think a lot of us have old wrongs simmering deep in our subconscious somewhere. Sometimes they were blatant and obvious. Other times, the culprit probably has no idea what they did.

Or maybe they know, but they wouldn't have known how not to do whatever they did anyway.

Or else, maybe they know and they don't care, and you're never going to get an apology no matter what.

Or else, maybe they have an entirely different and just as valid perspective that says they didn't really wrong you, or you wronged them just as much.

As satisfying and healing as an apology can be, it sure gives that person a lot of power, if you're waiting for them to offer one.

So, what if you could just skip that middle step, and accept their apology without ever hearing it?

I think I'm now on Team Skip the Middle Step.

I don't even remember that my mood that day had anything to do with feeling that anyone had wronged me. But I filed the quote away, posted it on Twitter, and figured that when my subconscious had sufficiently worked on it, I might share it here.

So today, for whomever this might help, or whomever you want an apology from, maybe give it a try:

• You know who you are, or maybe you don't.

• You know what you did, or maybe not.

• You were entirely in the wrong, or maybe I was just oversensitive and blind to the fact that I was doing something just as bad or worse.

Regardless, I accept your apology, even if you didn't offer one. Or else, maybe I'm accepting the apology you did in fact offer, but I wasn't able to hear.

And maybe you or someone else can do the same for me.

Maybe all of our lives just got easier!

Have a good lunch today.

2025 resolutions, redux

Yesterday’s poll didn’t work. I don’t know why! So let’s try it again here!

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7 other things worth knowing today

• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will soon be stepping down after nearly a decade in office, bowing to mounting political and public pressure to make way for new leadership. Monday's announcement, while not surprising, comes at a critical junction for Canada both at home and abroad. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about what comes next. (CBC)

• 5 years after it appeared, things we know and still don’t know about COVID. (PBS)

• Wealth Managers Flock to South American Beach Haven for the Rich: Punta del Este is becoming a magnet for foreign money in Uruguay. Health, real estate and airport projects are underway as a result. (Bloomberg)

• As President-elect Trump prepares to return to power, expectations are high for him to reward that allegiance and fulfill his promises of swift clemency for the 1,000-plus people convicted and hundreds more with pending cases from January 6, 2001. Any early action on the cases would set the tone for how he might wield the presidency to reward loyalists and, critics fear, punish opponents. (Bloomberg)

• 'Powerful yet so humble' - Americans gather to say goodbye to Jimmy Carter. (BBC)

• Two prisoners who are among the 37 federal inmates whose death sentences were commuted last month by President Joe Biden are refusing to sign paperwork accepting his clemency action. Shannon Agofsky and Len Davis, both inmates at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, filed emergency motions seeking an injunction to block having their death sentences commuted to life in prison without parole. The men believe that having their sentences commuted would put them at a legal disadvantage as they seek to appeal their cases based on claims of innocence. (NBC News)

• The gambling industry's sly new way to suck money from desperate Americans. Hint: AI. (Business Insider)

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Thanks for reading. Photo credit—me, from my car, but I already explained that. Have a great day! See you in the comments.