Dear Collegiettes,
We’ve all had them; toilet paper stuck to the bottom of your shoe, slipping on the ice in front of that cute boy, bad jokes. Yes, I’m talking about embarrassing moments.
Here’s a little story:
When I was in highs chool, I played on the women’s varsity basketball team. During one of the games, my teammates and I were warming up; doing lay-ups, shooting jump shots, and passing the ball back and forth. When I wasn’t paying attention, one of my teammates attempted to pass me the ball and instead of landing in my hands the ball hit me directly in the face.
As horrific as the embarrasing incident was, it got even more embarrassing that evening when one of my teammates sent me a photo. The photo was of the exact moment the ball collided with my face! My arms were in the air and I looked like a complete fool. The photo circulated around the school and ultimately landed on a page in the yearbook!
I laugh about it now, but then I didn’t think it was very funny. I was mortified and even contemplated staying home from school for a few days. I look back now and think how silly of me to be so embarrassed. But now I know that there are two ways to handle embarrassing moments.
Hide Under A Rock (figuratively)
I would not recommend this option, but it is an option nonetheless. The “hiding under a rock” response will only occur if you let the embarrassing moment rule you. I contemplated staying home from school, I contemplated contacting the principle and having the picture removed from the yearbook and having him order students to delete it from their phones. I realized, however, that someone somewhere would always have the photo and if I let the incident rule me I’d be embarrassed and unhappy forever. I realize that few embarrassing moments are this catastrophic, but these tips still apply. Whether you walk into the wrong classroom or rip your pants in front of the entire class, the worst thing you can do is let your embarrassing moment send you running.
Laugh it Off and Move On
This is the most difficult of the two options. When my classmates, friends or teammates would tease me about the photo I chose to laugh it off even though I was super embarrassed inside. When you react negatively to the incident, I can assure you, you will only make it worse. People will realize how much it gets to you and will tease you even more just to get a laugh. The best thing to do is grin and bear it and before you know it people will have moved on to the next topic to gossip about. This option will save you a lot of pain and energy. It takes a lot more energy to react negatively than to react positively.
Every now and then, a friend of mine will bring up the photo and I can genuinly laugh at it. So if you’re in the midst of an embarrassing moment, hold your head high and know that it will pass. Besides, if you never have any embarrassing moments you’ll never have any interesting stories to tell your kids in the future.
Char :)