"I didn't mean to hurt you."
No matter how close you are with your partner, you are bound to have conflicts. Sometimes, they end in hurting feelings that can’t be resolved. If those arguments keep repeating then the relationship will eventually come to a point from where there’s no going back. As long as the partners know how to resolve issues peacefully, they don’t stop learning about each other’s struggles and respect their recovering processes. But when they do everything they can to resolve and still find themselves unable to get past them, they may be unaware that they are amplifying the most common enemy of conflict resolution. It is the all-too-human tendency to excuse one’s own behaviour and blame the other for the hurt he or she is feeling. It shows up as “asking to be excused for what you’ve done because you didn’t mean to hurt them.” “I was just angry. I didn’t mean what I said.” “Just because I said those things doesn’t mean you can’t be a little forgiving.” “I wouldn’t be that way if yo...