By noticing how difficult it is for you to say something different than "sorry," you'll have taken a small step toward more personal freedom and individual expression.
Call me a wuss, but I can't sleep at night if I think I've hurt someone's feelings. I will stay up until I've formulated the perfect apology. Sometimes the person to whom I apologize has no idea what I'm talking about.
One of my New Year's resolutions is to stop saying a "sorry" that's empty, apologize fully when it's appropriate and to do my part to shift our culture of meaningless or non-existent apologies. Anyone else up for that?
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I'm sorry I looked at you while you were watching TV. I'm sorry I lowered the window. I'm sorry it'...
As anyone can tell you, apologies don't always work... At times they seem to fall on deaf ears. But more often than not, our apologies fall flat because we apologize the wrong way.