It was the first trip I had ever taken with my fiancé’s family. We all decided to go swimming in the ocean’s raging waves when it happened. The wave of my nightmares took me down and when I finally came back up for air, I noticed that everyone was staring. I looked down to see that my bathing suit had fallen to my hips. In that moment, my future brother-in-law started chuckling, followed by my fiancé and his parents and the rest of the family. For 15 stunned seconds that felt like an eternity, I was topless in front of everyone. I was so embarrassed that I wished the ocean would just swallow me! If you have ever lived through a moment like that, you know it can be pure torture. Here are 8 ways to recover from an embarrassing moment.
Take a quick assessment of the situation. If no one seems to be paying attention, you might be able to ignore it and walk away! If people around you have noticed, this one is going to be a little more difficult to pull off and it can make an awkward situation even worse.
If your snafu affected someone else, you need to just bite the bullet and apologize. Did you accidentally send an email to your boss when it was intended to be for your husband’s eyes only? You need to find the boss and apologize for your error.
When making your apology, be sincere and own up to your mistake without making excuses. It's imperative to acknowledge the impact your misstep may have had on the other person, even if it wasn't intentional. A heartfelt, straightforward apology can go a long way in mending the situation. Remember, the goal is to express remorse and take responsibility, which can help to rebuild trust and show that you value your relationship with the person affected by the blunder.
The best tool you can have in these situations is a sense of humor. If you trip and fall on your face in the middle of a crowd, you have to admit that it’s kind of funny. Even if you don’t see the humor at the moment, you will eventually. Don’t take yourself so seriously; laugh about it.
Some embarrassing moments can be the perfect opportunities to make a good joke. Do you seem to constantly spill food on your shirt or drop your coffee in the work room? When it happens, give a hearty laugh and say, “Just call me Grace!”
Use your moment of horror as a platform to point out an even worse situation. For instance, if the zipper on your jeans is busted and you don’t realize it for hours, you can say, “Well at least it wasn’t as bad as what happened to this one girl I read about. She lost her bathing suit in a wave and ended up topless in front of her future in laws!”
Take your embarrassing moment and use it as an opportunity to tell a story. Use a transition like “This reminds of the time…” or “Did you hear about…” and the moment will pass quickly.
Use the situation to learn what not to do in the future. If you are prone to spills, don’t wear a white shirt to dinner anymore. If you keep tripping in your heels, buy some flats. Learn from the embarrassing moments and hopefully you can avoid them in the future.
The worst possible thing you could do is dwell on a situation after it has passed. Everyone has these moments from time to time so don’t obsess. Most people will forget about it within a few minutes and you should too. Cut yourself a break and just get over it.
You can use these 8 ways to recover from an embarrassing moment the next time tragedy strikes. How do you recover in mortifying moments? What is your most embarrassing moment?
Top Photo Credit: dgilder