TL;DR We’ve all gone through embarrassing moments in our lifetime. Some we got over, while others we will remember until our hairs turn grey. The first step to getting over your embarrassing moments is to accept that they happened. The next to process how you feel by talking to someone about it.

We have all been there, done something we are ashamed to talk about or even think about, and cringed. Having done something embarrassing is very common; even the most confident person you know has embarrassed themselves from time to time. People have different ways of handling embarrassment. Of course, people will cringe or feel awkward in times like this, but being able to shrug off the feeling and laugh about it is a better approach. It might not be easy to forget what you have done; it might replay in your mind, but trust me, people forget, and they have more important things to deal with. But if you are not convinced, some of our tips on handling embarrassment might help you.

Learn to Laugh on Yourself

Having a good laugh is a mood booster; it lightens up the room, but at what expense? Well, for one, embarrassing moments will always be a good story to tell. Being able to laugh at your embarrassing moment is a good way for you to move past that feeling.

Opening up about the embarrassing moment will help you move past it easier, but telling a joke and having a laugh about it will make you comfortable with how it played out. It will give you a different perspective on how silly things were when they happened. But it all depends on the embarrassment you feel in that situation. If you are uncomfortable talking about or making fun of it, be clear about how you feel so they can respect your decision. There are embarrassing moments that are hard to get over, eventually, you will do it, especially when you look at them from a funny perspective.

No One is Perfect

Can you tell me someone you know who has never experienced being embarrassed? I know it is hard to think of someone because nobody is perfect. We’ve all experienced embarrassing moments in our lives. It may not be our proudest moment, but it only shows that we all have flaws and that you don’t need to be hard on yourself.

Perfection is always that elusive idea we try to achieve, but in reality, it is unattainable. Everybody is struggling with something, and everybody will always have that memory where they were embarrassed at one point in their life. There is no need to put pressure on yourself because you made a silly mistake. Be compassionate towards yourself; this will give you the outlook that everybody makes mistakes and that you are just like everyone else.

It Is In The Past

Your embarrassing moment happened in the past, and there is nothing you can do about it. It might cross your mind occasionally, but what happened in the past doesn’t define who you are. You might have a hard time getting through it, but it is in the past and is over.

To better cope with how you feel, it is better to put your energy into the present. Try to focus on what is happening in your life right now. What are your current goals and plans? Evaluate how your life is going. This will help you divert your attention to more crucial things in your life. Looking back at that moment will only hurt your well-being, it will only bring back how you exactly felt during that time. Changing your focus to the here and now will help you move past it comfortably. You just need to remember that your past mistakes don’t dictate your future.

Talk to Someone about How You Feel

Having someone to talk to will help you cope better with your feeling of embarrassment, and they might offer a different perspective on your situation, which helps you move forward. I know it might be hard to open up about something you are not proud of, but learning to talk about embarrassing moments with someone you trust and are comfortable with will help overcome that feeling.

Having someone to share how you feel and not keep it to yourself will benefit your well-being; after all, we are social beings and need someone to talk to. We always need a solid support system to overcome hardships. Plus, when you have a friend to talk to, you can laugh about your experience and make the mood light. It will surely help with how you deal with your anxiety about the situation.

We have all been through some embarrassing moments in our lives, and some we had a hard time coping with. Surely, when it happened, you thought that your world would end, but it didn’t, and people moved on and forgot. Accepting the fact that it happened in the past and that we can never do something to change it will help us get through how we feel.

We may have different ways of coping with our embarrassing moments, but the main goal is to get through them. What happened in the past will not define who you are; don’t let those moments stop you from trying again and trying new things. Life is full of surprises, and we should learn to laugh at some of them.

Visit our website for more articles from Dr. Krysti (Lan Chi) Vo, MD. She is a psychiatrist, speaker, and advisor that specializes in making people a better version of themselves.