The Embarrassment

Failure can be embarrassing and can be tough to get through. Some embarrassing moments can be laughed at and other ones are too embarrassing that all you can do is be embarrassed. There really are two types of embarrassment. I have a lot of embarrassing moments, but most of them I can make myself feel better by laughing at myself. Laughing when I do something embarrassing or when I fail helps me get through it and makes it easier. There is nothing worse than failing at something and having other people stare at you or laugh at you, one thing that can make it better is laughter. Some small failures or embarrassments that have happened to me include messing up my words when speaking in front of people, tripping or falling in front of people and having to go out in public when I am not looking my best, but this failure was like none other.

When I was in fourth grade I played travel basketball. My team was in a tournament in Boothbay, it was the championship game. The score was close and there was not much time left in the game. I was sitting on the bench and my coach put me in. When I was in fourth grade I was not paying attention to the game when I was sitting on the bench, I would talk to my friends instead. I was sitting at the sub table waiting to go in, the refs blew their whistle and I was able to go in the game. The other team had just scored and they were pressing us. The ball was thrown in to me, everyone started shouting “no”, “wrong way”, but I was not really paying attention and I shot the ball and scored at the wrong end. There was so many people watching the game, I was so embarrassed. We got the ball back and we scored and then I went and played defense, I was really embarrassed, but I laughed at myself just so it could make the situation a little less embarrassing. We ended up winning the game so the points I scored for the other team did not really matter. We got medals and trophies and everyone was so happy while I was feeling embarrassed. I felt like everyone was staring at me and I thought everyone would remember that moment and that terrified me. After the game I went to my mom and started crying because of how embarrassed I was. My mom told me “don’t worry, everything will be okay”. But my response to her was “I don’t want everyone remembering this”. My teammates were there for me and they supported me throughout my embarrassment. I did not want anyone looking at me or anyone talking to me about what I did. Being able to laugh at myself during the game after I had scored for the other team made it easy to be able to keep playing and to pretend like nothing had happened. But as soon as the game ended, that is when I felt all the embarrassment. My ability to laugh at myself during the game made the situation much easier and better but my inability to laugh after the game had ended, made the situation so much harder for me. Being able to laugh through failures, embarrassments or rough times makes things easier and can ease the pain. Things get harder when laughter can not be found. Failures and embarrassments get worse and the pain gets worse.

Scoring for the other team was very hard for me to try to not be embarrassed by. Having my mom and my teammates there for me made it easier to forget about it and get over it. It would be completely impossible to not laugh and not be embarrassed by it. I have learned that laughing at yourself can make any situation much easier and less embarrassing. From now on when I fail or embarrass myself I will just laugh it off. Laughing makes the situation less painful and less embarrassing. The feeling of being embarrassed is hard and can be painful sometimes but laughing at yourself can turn the situation around and make it 100 percent better. Life is short and life should be lived to the fullest. There is no time to live your life in embarrassment or to worry about failures, enjoy it while it lasts.

Photo by eddie.welker on Foter.com / CC BY-SA