Metanoia (rhetoric)

Metanoia is like taking a step back and thinking about what you just said, to make sure you really mean it. It's like when you say something mean to your friend and then you think about how much it hurt their feelings, so you apologize and try to make it better. In fancy talking, we call it "changing one's mind" or "changing one's direction." Basically, it's like hitting a rewind button in your head and making sure you actually said what you meant to say, and if you didn't, you can fix it.