Waiting for Them to Apologize First Keeps the Conflict Alive

In most arguments, both people did something worth owning up to, but each waits for the other to move first, as if apologizing were surrender rather than repair. The relationship pays for that standoff, not whichever person technically started the original fight.

Going first isn't the same as admitting you were more wrong -- it just means you value the relationship more than being right. Apologize for your specific part, however small, without waiting to see if they'll match it; someone has to break the stalemate, and it might as well be you.