“If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth. For pressing milk produces curds, pressing the nose produces blood, and pressing anger produces strife.”
Stop making people angry. It makes life difficult for everyone. That’s it. It’s not too late. If you’ve been foolish, arrogant, or cruel: just stop.
It seems pretty simple. But most people, myself included, find it difficult to back down. Once we’ve set out on a path, we tend to stubbornly see it through. Admitting we were wrong is embarrassing. It’s difficult. No one wants to do that.
But pressing forward on those paths just makes things worse. For us. For those around us. For everyone. It doesn’t save face. It doesn’t accomplish anything good in any way. It really is best to just stop.
To be honest, most people I know respect that. We respect someone who is able to admit they were wrong, that they need to learn better. That stop pressing forward to defend their actions or choices or to maintain their pattern or habits or direction. After all, everyone is wrong at some point about something. Everyone offends someone at some point some way.
It is possible to stop. To correct. To redirect.