Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Gotta Love Those Embarrassing Moments

Embarrassing moments. We all have them….some of us more frequently than others, but hey!..they come with life. Me? I definitely fall into the “some of us” category because no doubt I am the poster child for unintentionally looking like a doof. I’ve always been this way, but I have become more aware of it ever since I started my job. I think it’s because I’m more aware of how I need to appear in a professional environment that I’m getting paid to be apart of. None-the-less, I’ve had WAY too many moments where I’ve thought, “I can’t believe I just did that” than a person should be allowed to have. So I pray for grace from my boss and co-workers. Ha! Thank the Lord; I’ve received it… so far. It’s those moments that you don’t plan on happening, yet somehow they show up and your palm hits your forehead for the umpteenth time. Like for instance:

• Embarrassing Moment #1: A week after I started work I leaned over my computer monitor to look for an usb jack and got my earring stuck in the monitor. So there I am sitting on my desk with my ear stuck to my computer monitor. All I could think about was how ridiculous I must’ve looked and it didn’t even occur to me that all I had to do was take my earring off instead of trying to wiggle it loose, still attached to my ear.

• Embarrassing Moment #34: I walked out of the restroom with my skirt tucked in my undershorts. (Thankfully I felt the breeze before anyone else saw! I probably would have literally quit and my reason for leaving would have been: utter embarrassment.)

• Embarrassing Moment # 82: While talking to my boss, I nervously tried to balance the big box that I was carrying in the palm of my hand. (It was one of those moments where your hands are doing stuff that your mind has no clue about.) Of course I lost its balance on my palm and right before it took a tumble in the hallway the VP caught it. (Suddenly, I feel the red rising in my neck again.)

• Embarrassing Moment # 109: Oddly, I ran from a quacking goose in the middle of the parking lot.

• Embarrassing Moment # 178: While dropping off boxes, I somehow forgot to put my car in park. Excitedly I just took my foot off the brake and hopped out of the car. Thankfully I caught it before it hit anything. Wow. That one could have been dangerous. Eeesh.

• Embarrassing Moment #234: While walking with my boss I “push” on a “pull” door.

• Embarrassing Moment # 311: After casually mentioning that I had a headache in the left part of my forehead to my co-worker, I proceeded to bend down to pick up something and HIT the left part of my forehead on the corner of a shelf. You can’t deny that was uncomfortable in more ways than one.

I could go on and on with all the odd things that I do on a regular basis. I sometimes stop and think at how much of a “mess” I would let myself be if I’d let those awkward moments “get” to me. Instead, you can bet that in each and every one of those moments I “let it go” and just laughed at myself (and invite others to laugh with me)….because life happens and embarrassing moments are not exempt from life. Believe it or not those are the moments to live in, because they create the opportunities for laughter in your day and memories to transform into stories. I also believe that it builds character, adds to your sense of humor, and definitely humbles you.

By faith, I believe that the “Proverbs 31”woman was no stranger to embarrassing moments, either. I bet she owned them too, saying, “Oh yeah that’s right. I sure did just do that.” Ha! Yep…The Bible tells us in Proverbs 31:25 that “she is clothed in strength and dignity; she can laugh about the days to come.” When I heard this verse repeated at Beth Moore’s “So Long, Insecurity” conference it got me to thinking. In this situation, I believe that before we let ourselves get overwhelmed with embarrassment and feel the urge to be insecure about the silly things that we do (that probably nobody pays attention to anyway)… we can pause and take a moment to clothe ourselves with the strength to laugh in the moment and the dignity to let it roll right off our shoulders, while embracing the fact that “it happens.”

I just know that God has a great sense of humor and takes delight in the goofy moments that His children create, just as any parent would. My mom has said, “Oh that’s just Miranda” more times than I can count, and my dad use to make the “whooshing” sound as he swiped his hand over his head as in to signal the “it went right over your head” sign.. So sometimes I can just picture Jesus, after one of my embarrassing moments, looking down and “whooshing” His holy hand over the top of His holy head and saying, “Yep…That’s my Miranda. Gotta love her.” And He does :)

(For a fun a visual: A few months ago, while visiting friends in Nashville, I thought it'd be funny to pretend I was a "box monster" and put my arms through the sides of this box. Yeah....well I kind of got stuck. After much laughter, the box had to be cut off because I just couldn't get out of it. And to answer your question, NO. I had not been drinking. Thank you. Ha!)