I picked up a magazine, and began waiting. As Jerry Seinfeld once said on his sitcom, there is a reason they're called waiting rooms. One half-hour after my appointment was scheduled, I asked, very politely, the following question, "Can you tell me approximately when I'll be able to see the doctor?" Just then, a nurse who overheard my question, raised her voice towards me, "The doctor is very behind today-he'll see you when he can get to you. Besides, you were late."

"It was simply a question-and incidentally, I was only four minutes late."

Sheepishly, I took my seat. Only a few minutes later, I was ushered into an examination room. The same nurse asked me to roll my sleeve up, so she could take my blood pressure.

If you're like me, your mind spins. Should I say something? Or should I let it go? I decided to let it go. As the blood pressure sleeve tightened around my upper arm, the nurse says to me, "The doctor had a few difficult cases this morning. He's been backed up all day."

"I understand" I replied. "I was simply inquiring earlier as to when I would be able to be seen. You should know that you snapped at me."

There, I said it, very calmly, but I said it. The nurse didn't reply. She told me my blood pressure was great, and that the doctor would be in shortly.

I smiled, and said thanks. She closed the door, and that was that. Or so I thought. Two minutes later, the door opens, and it's the nurse. "If I snapped at you, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Thanks for that" I said, "I really appreciate your apology."

The power of those words, "I'm sorry," right then, were profound. In the big picture, this wasn't a big deal, not at all. But at that moment, it was significant. One minute, I felt taken advantage of; the next minute, I felt completely renewed. A genuine wave of joy enveloped me.

We often think of the High Holidays, Yamim Noraim, as the time to say, "I'm sorry" to others, but why wait until then? Now is the time to repair the broken relationship you have with your son, your spouse, your colleague, your friend. Now is the time to make amends, to get past the difficulties, and to begin to heal that which is sick.