30 Things We Only Do When We Are Embarrassed

1. Going as red as a tomato

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It's as though your cheeks are absolutely working against you, and you're suddenly this shining beacon of 'I'm definitely embarrassed right now', no matter how confident you appear otherwise. And once you can feel yourself going red, that's it - you know everyone is going to know your secret of shame.

2. That weird chest prickle

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Some people even have it worse, where not only their cheeks will go red, but they'll have a flushed, prickly chest too - which isn't so bad if you're wearing a sweater, but wearing a tank on a summer's day? Everyone can now see that you're embarrassed enough to be blushing on both your cheeks and chest! Wonderful!

3. Only your ears go red

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Some people might even just have their ears go red. Why oh why? It's the worst, and it looks ridiculous. The one day you decided to wear your hair up, too! You can feel your ears burning red hot and suddenly everyone's asking why your ears are so red and you don't have an answer for them.

4. You stumble over your sentences

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You suddenly forget how to speak and form a sentence like a normal human being. Too many thoughts are running through your head and your tongue can't keep up. You start speaking a language only the truly embarrassed can understand, and you might even get sympathetic looks from people who have been there.

5. ... And then that makes you more embarrassed!

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And what happens the second you start speaking like a stuttering fool? You get even more embarrassed about the nonsense you've just said, so suddenly it's even harder to speak, your cheeks are burning and you can feel the heavy silence as everyone around you is waiting for you to make sense.

6. You start sweating in places you didn't even know you could sweat

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As though blushing wasn't bad enough, your body wastes no time at all in completely dehydrating you at the click of a finger by sweating out your entire body's worth of moisture. Suddenly your legs are sweating, your hands are sweating, your belly button is sweating... it's everywhere.

7. And then you get embarrassed about sweat marks

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And you then don't want everyone to see the sweat marks, because that would make this horrid situation even worse. Not only do you have to contend with the sweat marks under your arms, but now your leather office chair is suddenly drenched and you're scared of standing up so your co-worker doesn't see it.

8. You can't hear anything because your heart is pounding like a drum

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Your heart goes into overdrive and you wonder whether you're having a panic attack or if this is just the way your body reacts to embarrassment. Either way, the one silver lining is you can't hear the person you've just embarrassed yourself in front of because your heart is drumming away in your ears too loudly.

9. You suddenly forget the most basic information about yourself

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Someone asks you your name and suddenly you don't know, you doubt everything you've ever known, and now you can't even give them a simple answer. You can't remember where you live, what your favorite color is or what you had for lunch that day. It's like the embarrassment destroys the very sense of who you even are as a person. Sob.

10. You become a human fidget spinner

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You suddenly don't know what to do with your limbs, your head, your clothes... anything. Ideally, you want to move in a way that best covers your flushing chest, cheeks and sweating armpits, and now you just look like your limbs are flailing every which way and this whole thing just got weirder.

11. You go over that moment, again and again

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There is no second of any day now where you're not going to think of this moment. The rest of that day is a complete write off because there's no chance of focusing your mind on anything else that's happening around you. You're like a walking zombie only thinking of that stupid thing you said or did.

12. You lie in bed, mortified

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Which of course means you're likely never to get an ounce of sleep again, because this is all you're going to think about until the end of time. In 20 years, you'll still be thinking of this moment and wondering if the people involved still think about you, and that stupid thing you did.

13. You start to overthink any other situation

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Unfortunately, this also means your fight or flight instinct kicks in for any ol' situation now. It's put you on edge and makes you worried about being embarrassed again, so now you just avoid any situation you can, or stay at home so that you can't make a fool of yourself again!

14. And think that everyone else remembers that one embarrassing thing you did

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Let's be honest - it's about 99.9% certain that those people who saw you did that one random, stupid thing have barely even given you a second thought, and have likely forgotten you exist. But you? You're fully convinced they think about you - and it - every single day, and laugh.

15. You tell everyone you know about it

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It just seems like you suddenly need to tell every single person you come across about that horrifically embarrassing thing that just happened - almost like it's the only way you can deal with it or try and take out some of the shame. Suddenly, you're telling people on the train, or bus, or the group chat 'you'll never guess what I just did!'.

16. You post it on social media

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The next step is to post it on social media, of course, likely accompanied by an applicable meme of someone embarrassing themselves in a similar situation. This can be a coping mechanism so everyone thinks you're laughing it off, but secretly you're hoping for some comments that say 'aw you've nothing to be embarrassed about!'.

17. You ask for advice

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Because you're going over and over in your mind about what you did, you need to ask advice from people about what you could have done differently, whether what you did was actually stupid, or just to tell you that you're overthinking things in the first place. You suddenly need to ask everyone you know for advice about this one, stupid thing!

18. You try and compensate for what you did

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You're now fuelled with this 10 step plan about how you can prove to the person you embarrassed yourself in front of that you're actually a well-functioning adult. So you go in and try and compensate (like talking more than you usually would to make up for stuttering that time when you were embarrassed) or even bringing up what happened so you can address it.

19. You start to get anxious about future embarrassments

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It's actually common for people who go through a lot of embarrassing situations to develop conditions like anxiety or panic because they're so worried about doing it again, or always doing something they'll be ashamed of. You probably overthink every future interaction from now on.

20. You actually can't speak

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As a reaction to being completely mortified, it might be that you don't even attempt to stutter, you just shut down. You can no longer speak because there's nothing you can say that can explain or justify how embarrassed you are so you just sort of go quiet and numb.

21. Simply running out of the room suddenly seems appealing

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Most people's knee-jerk reaction to doing something horrifically embarrassing is just to flee from the room so that nobody can see their face (valid) and now all you're doing is just standing there seriously considering how long it would realistically take you to reach the door.

22. You're honestly considering relocating and changing your name

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The only acceptable reaction to this embarrassing situation - in your mind - is to move and change your name so that you never have to see those people again. Nobody can know how badly you embarrassed yourself if they're completely new people who never knew you before - genius!

23. You can't look anyone in the eye

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Being able to make eye contact like a normal person absolutely goes out the window when you're embarrassed - if you make eye contact, suddenly everything feels more real and you feel like the other person can peer right into your soul, at the depths of your shame...

24. You have an overwhelming urge to cry like a baby

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There's this weird thing most of us do when we're really embarrassed, where we suddenly feel like a child again and we just wanna be scooped up and carried away. Being embarrassed really makes you feel like a baby, and you could 100% burst into tears right now, with no regrets.

25. You might get defensive

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Some people actually go the opposite way and get really defensive when they're feeling ashamed, because they want to turn the focus or attention onto someone else and make them feel bad instead. It's not uncommon to lash out and try and talk your way out of why you did something embarrassing, as though they're the ones that are stupid for thinking you did something wrong!

26. Or even really angry

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This might even turn to anger because you hate that everyone's laughing at you, judging you or making you feel like a fool. You might even surprise yourself with how angry it makes you when you're not usually an angry person. It's like embarrassment possesses you!

27. Laugh it off while dying inside

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What's the best way to deal with such an embarrassing situation? Just laugh at yourself with everyone else and pretend you're super cool about it while dying inside! You're definitely going to excuse yourself and go to the bathroom to cry about it after you've finished fake-laughing.

28. How to get over it: own it!

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If you find yourself in an embarrassing situation, the best (and maybe only) thing you can do is just own it. Easier said than done, we know, but if you've done something stupid, hold your hands up, laugh and move on. It only gets more and more embarrassing when you act embarrassed because other people milk that for all it's worth!

29. Admit it out loud and don't make it a big deal

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The best way to move past it and shake it off is to actually talk about it and say it out loud - it can be quite therapeutic! If you've fallen over in front of a bunch of people - we feel ya - then just say 'yep I just fell over, I'm fine by the way, can we move on?' Much less embarrassing than crying and running off (we wouldn't blame you, though).

30. Make them feel bad for laughing at you

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At the end of the day, we're all adults and this shouldn't be a playground pointing and laughing situation! So if you're feeling embarrassed and other people are making you feel bad about it, ask them why they're being cruel, and why they think it's okay to put you down like that!