It takes two to make peace

Sometimes you take the step, hold out your hand, truly ask for forgiveness, and the other person isn't there yet. And it hurts, because you'd like to close the wound now. But peace isn't signed by one person alone: just as it took two to fight, it takes two to reconcile. That calls for accepting something hard: you can't force the other person's pace. You can do your part—show your face, say what you feel, leave the door open—but you can't demand that they respond on your timetable. Pressuring them to make peace now usually spoils what you're trying to fix. Knowing this takes a weight off. Your task is to do your part well; the result doesn't depend only on you, and that too is accepted with peace. Giving time isn't giving up: often it's what makes it possible for the other person to come back.