I’ll just add that often the thing you’re apologizing for isn’t that serious. By all means own up to your mistake, but also take it as an opportunity to make the other person feel better with a bit of theatrics and fun, not just painful sincerity. If they still insist on making you prove that you feel bad, that might be a message on its own :-/
Relevant to this, I think, is the context of the original version of this blog post (link in OP). There, the person demanding the apology is not a loved one. There, the intended message is indeed of the sort that you allude to.
I’ll just add that often the thing you’re apologizing for isn’t that serious. By all means own up to your mistake, but also take it as an opportunity to make the other person feel better with a bit of theatrics and fun, not just painful sincerity. If they still insist on making you prove that you feel bad, that might be a message on its own :-/
Indeed.
Relevant to this, I think, is the context of the original version of this blog post (link in OP). There, the person demanding the apology is not a loved one. There, the intended message is indeed of the sort that you allude to.