Embarrassment

Embarrassment

Embarrassment: a feeling of self-consciousness, shame, or awkwardness. Everyone has had countless moments in their life where they felt embarrassed, situations where they could’ve simply died in that moment, moments that they over-thought for days on end or even weeks. That feeling of embarrassment that washes over you, as if all the eyes in the room are just on you and everyone will remember this moment for the rest of their lives. But what is really embarrassing? Is it that moment when you forget to get a calculator, and have to get up and get one in front of the entire class? Or is it that moment when you think someone in public is waving to you so you wave back, only to realize that their intentional target was standing just behind you? 

In truth, nothing is embarrassing. When you really think about it, how many times have you been on the other end of situations like that? This is most likely a big number, but before this moment you probably had never thought about them, never gave them a second thought. Embarrassment is a concept created in our heads–simply put, nothing can be embarrassing unless you make it embarrassing. That embarrassment that you feel is only within you, and achieving peace includes letting go of that embarrassment and accepting that really, no one cares so neither should you.