That moment you wish you were invisible!

The scene:

Gold Reef City on a Saturday afternoon (long ago). Hubby and I wait for the mini train.

I’m hungry. 

I run to the back of the station building into the station cafe.  I run out the cafe with popcorn and cooldrink.  Can’t miss the train.

I slip!  Popcorn and cooldrink shoot in all directions.  I land on my hands and knees.

“Oh hell, what a mess!  Damn, my knees are sore!  Wonder who saw me?”

(Side note:  I am still very smartly dressed – did a presentation in the morning)

I peep sideways – hoping there is no audience.  I spot youngsters folded double, holding their tummies, killing themselves with laughter.

“Ah no!!!  Embarrassment de lux!!”

But then I “saw” the picture they must have seen:  smart woman slip, smart woman fall, smart woman lands on her hands and knees, smart woman is surrounded by popcorn and cooldrink, smart woman probably looks like a cow grazing refreshments from a green painted cement floor.

I turned around on my bums and burst out laughing at myself.  Can you just imagine what those youngsters saw?!  Must have been quite a scene!

The Lesson:

It’s not always possible to hide an embarrassing situation.  In fact, trying to hide it or brush it off as if it never happened, not matter what it is, does not make the situation better.  That silly adrenaline feeling stays. The best medicine for embarrassment is to just acknowledge it and do what Ben Zander (Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor) teaches:  say to yourself “HOW FASCINATING, I made a mess” – well that’s what I should have said on that green painted cement floor.  Or “HOW FASCINATING, I slipped up!”  ….and you have to throw your arms in the air when you say that! 

See the video clip below and you will understand!  🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw8BsmveZoo

This man has an amazing sense of humour.

Let me close with a short explanation.  

When we are under stress, e.g. in the case of an embarrassment, our bodies release stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, and the quickest way to get rid of it so that we can relax is to do something physical, like throwing your arms up in the air and saying to yourself “HOW FASCINATING”!

Try it, it really works.  I have learned that now, although I have not fallen on a green painted cement floor again to practice it in such a severe incident…. luckily not!

Sending you lots of unembarrassed wishes