I just had a slightly awkward moment with a supervisor at work. He asked me how a meeting with a few other of my coworkers went and I misheard, thinking he just asked me how I was doing. I started stupidly rambling about how I was doing and asked him how he was. He was like “Oh, I’m good…” and the convo died awkwardly. A couple hours later it dawned on me that I had completely misheard his question!!! LOL. Obviously by then it was too late to recover. This was such a tiny moment that anybody could have experienced but I want to crawl inside my skin and I can’t stop replaying it in my mind and berating myself. How do you stop yourself from reliving cringy moments and start to accept/let go? I know these moments happen to everyone and it probably won’t change anyone’s opinion of me but I’m paralyzed and can’t stop ruminating!!!
5 comments
Meditation is always good. Focus on the awkwardness, reflect on it, and forgive yourself.
When I want to try and make piece with a memory, I write it down on a scrap of paper and throw it in this fire pit in my backyard. A little dramatic, but nice to see my worries literally go up in smoke.
I like to try to think of a situation where I remember something cringey someone else did. And I usually can’t. So it’s likely those cringey moments of yours no one will remember.
I either talk to the person I had an awkward interaction with (I of course don’t talk about that awkward moment with them) or actually talk to someone about that awkward interaction. Or even as a game try to recreate it with a friend. The last part might be just a me thing.
All the best!
Reliving it is your brain going over it to pick out pieces to learn. Its essential for growth.