Everyone has awkward moments. Most importantly everyone has awkward moments that make them feel embarrassed. When that situation happens, you can’t help but obsess over how awkward and embarrassing that moment was. This isn’t the healthiest thing to do, but it is what most people do anyway. The best thing anyone can do in an embarrassing and awkward moment is to acknowledge that it happened, accept it, and move on.
The Awkward Moment
You see a group of people you know walking towards you. They are all saying ‘hi’ and waving. The first person says ‘hi’ to you, and raises their hand as if they are going to give you a high-five. Instead of a high-five, they hold your hand. You were not expecting that at all, but you go with it because you know this person well. Then you move on to the next person who gives you a high-five, and the next person, and the next person. Everyone is giving you high-fives, until you get to the fifth person. Expecting nothing less, because you assume that the person saw everyone in front of you giving out high-fives. You go for the high-five. This person just waves. While you are very close to their hand, thinking that you would be getting a high-five back, you slowly pull back and wave also. Realizing the error in your ways, you give a general wave to everyone else with them and try as quickly as possible to leave the area.
That, my friend, was an awkward moment. Here are three guidelines to help you get over it.
Acknowledge the Awkward
In the above interaction, you should have felt an awkward and a possibly embarrassing moment coming on from the instance that the first person grabbed your hand. Your second hint that an awkward moment was coming was when you went to high-five the other person, they simply just waved. Once you have gathered all of the leading factual information to reach the conclusion of what just happened, you have fully acknowledge the moment.
Accept the Awkward
Typically, the way one would accept an awkward moment would be saying, “Well, that was awkward”. Once you have said those four magic words, you are now set free from any worrying or judgement that you might feel. Some people could argue that announcing a moment as awkward, only makes the moment more awkward. When really, you are just voicing what everyone else is too shy to say aloud.
Move On from the Awkward
This is probably the most important guideline to remember when trying to get over an awkward moment. Moving on as soon as it happens. Don’t waste time trying to figure out if the other people thought it was awkward. Dwelling on the situation is only going to make this worse and harder to go on with your day.
The next time you have an awkward or embarrassing encounter, remember these guidelines. Also remember that you’re not the only awkward soul out there. Everyone is also struggling to function.