“Do you have any advice for embarrassment? I get embarrassed about the littlest things; things I say or do, or how I look, and I really want to get over this.”
-Grace
I get embarrassed pretty easily, too. I’ll say something “weird,” dress slightly different than usual, et cetera, and I’ll find myself thinking, “why did I DO that???” But I’ve found that if you act like what you’re embarrassed about isn’t a big deal, other people generally won’t care. And even if they do, it won’t necessarily last long. To elaborate:
First, you. I mentioned acting like it isn’t a big deal, but really, the most important thing is how you think about it. I actually find it helps me to think of past things I’ve been embarrassed by. It sounds counterintuitive, but how I think about it is, hey, I’ve done some seriously embarrassing things in the past, but I survived! It’s happened before, it can happen again. I’ve said things to my friends that have made me wonder why they’d want to be friends with me (a vaguely insensitive comment here, a seemingly nonsensical offer for a bra there), but you know what? I’m still friends with those people. Yes, this won’t be the case every time for everyone, but in many, even most, cases, the worst-case scenario isn’t the most likely. (Though, I would recommend apologizing if you feel you’ve been rude to someone.)
Second, other people. I often get super self-conscious of how other people view me, but the thing is, they’re likely paying more attention to themselves that to you. You could try this: for a few days or so, try to notice when other people do the things you get embarrassed about. Chances are, they’ll seem like less of a big deal when it’s not you. I tend to get really self-conscious when something about my appearance is different than usual--say, new sunglasses--and this strategy often helps me with that.
I hope this helps, and good luck!
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