We’ve all been there…
My most embarrassing moment happened a good few years ago when I was a waitress. I was only about a month into the job so I was still a newbie.
I thought I had mastered the whole tray situation, you know that situation when you have to carry a full tray of like six drinks over to a table. Turns out, I hadn’t.
I spilled the whole tray of drinks all over a family in the middle of the restaurant. I was so embarrassed. I could see in their faces that they were thinking ‘for f**k sake’.
They were chilled enough about the whole thing though. I mean they didn’t just get up and leave which was a good thing, I think.
There wasn’t many in the restaurant at the time (thank god), but I did feel myself going bright red in the face. Rather than let embarrassing moments like this get to me for too long, these are the things that I told myself in order to be able to get over them.
Just laugh
Ok I know it’s easier said than done, but if you can laugh at yourself, you should. I mean, embarrassing stories make for great entertainment at parties or weddings so don’t be afraid to chat about it once you’ve gotten over the absolute FEAR.
But when you are in ‘said’ embarrassing moment, it can be a challenge to find anything funny. You just want the ground to swallow you up.
If you can crack a joke at yourself in the moment, go for it. People may even admire you for the way in which you handled the moment if you do.
Don’t overthink the joke though. You don’t have to be a professional comedian. Even saying ‘awkward’ could do the trick.
Don’t apologise too much
Not saying you shouldn’t apologise (obvs if you were in a similar situation to me you should defo apologise), but don’t feel the need to apologise a hundred times. Excessively apologising can become irritating very quickly.
Also, the more you say sorry the more difficult it will become to overcome your embarrassment. You’ll be more focused on what just happened two minutes ago, rather than on what you can do in the present moment to overcome the embarrassment.
Just simply pick yourself up, dust off the stress, and get on with whatever you were doing in the first place.
Confront your embarrassment
There’s no point in thinking that you are immune to embarrassing moments, they can happen to anyone. Instead, try your best to handle being uncomfortable in certain situations.
Being doing this, you might even realise how much of a non-event most embarrassing moments are. Once you have done this, do your best to move on.
A key part of moving on is probably self-forgiveness and self-compassion. When you see that you and everyone else are imperfect, it might just allow you to let it go.
All gifs via Giphy.
