Do you remember that time when you spilled that massive glass of cranberry juice in a crowded dining hall? Do you remember how it silenced everyone around you and the spill seemed to grow in size and make the entire floor sticky? No one really remembers except me, but that’s because it happened to me. I spilled a near full glass of cranberry juice in McMahon during the busiest dinner time as I went to return my plates. My pants were covered in juice and it seemed like everyone’s eyes were on me. My face reddened, my heart began to race and I felt like the world’s focus was on me.
However, the focus only remained on me for a moment and soon, everyone was back to what they were doing previously. It was an incredibly embarrassing public situation I experienced, but did it really matter?
Embarrassing moments are a common occurrence in anyone’s life, and they range from mishaps as small as dropping your cranberry juice to as big as getting kicked out of a Beetlejuice performance. While undesirable, they can become an even greater issue for those who continue to relive that moment in their mind. For a busy college student with a loaded class schedule, extracurriculars and trying to take care of oneself, having those emotions and worries take center stage can be detrimental. The stress builds, and before you know it, your health and school takes a back seat.
Such a situation isn’t ideal for any student, especially now that you have to continue reliving those undesirable feelings. However, this worrying isn’t necessary, and for your sake, you shouldn’t be obsessing over something insignificant and unavoidable that happened. There is an underlying reason as to why you do though, and it’s known as negativity bias.
Negativity bias is a cognitive bias that creates a natural tendency for humans to focus on or utilize negative information over positive information. Due to evolutionary factors, we tend to bring more weight to the negatives in decision making so we don’t repeat that mistake in the future. In the modern day, negativity bias plays a part in smaller aspects of our lives, such as turning us towards specific products or taking the safer course of action. So, in some cases, negativity bias does play an important role, but that can’t be said for every situation. When it comes to those embarrassing moments, negative emotions can linger and bring greater emphasis to your mishap.
While it seems like this is an unsolvable part of dealing with embarrassing moments, there are ways to alleviate the pain from the discomfort when it happens next.
Oftentimes, it’s as simple as putting the situation into perspective. The reason why you might be embarrassed over a silly mistake is because other people around you saw it. However, consider what you’ve seen in your own life. Do you remember a specific instance where you saw a stranger have a blunder or make some silly mistake? The answer to that is probably no, and even if you did, you also probably didn’t give much thought or care to it happening. That’s because like you, people tend to be focused on their own problems. There’s always the chance someone might notice what happened to you, but they’re going to move on from it, so you should too.
Remember to also be kind to yourself. Know that when mistakes or slip ups happen, it’s okay because it’s a natural part of life. Go easy, hold some compassion for yourself and remember that you can move on from it. Take a deep breath if you have to, and give yourself the time you need to get back to feeling good again. Keep in mind too that one day you may end up looking back on that moment with a smile or laugh.
Embarrassing moments and mistakes are usually unavoidable. That’s one of the unfortunate sides of life. However, life is about experiencing everything, that includes both the good and the bad. So next time you drop a large glass full of cranberry juice in a dining hall, remember to not be too bothered by it.