Awkward Situations – How to save yourself from any embarrassing moment

Have you been in a situation where you can describe as being awkward?

Think about this. For several years, Jason had responded to various vacancies for employment. Recently, he received this notification to report for an interview in a renowned company. As he waited for his turn, Darlyn walked in to the reception to clarify something from the receptionist. Incidentally, three years earlier, this same lady had a bitter break-up from our guy after a sizzling relationship.

In this same company, she’s now the head of operations! While she was caught by surprise cum shock, our guy was transfixed, mouth agape, howbeit for a moment. Now, how can we attain cordiality in the midst of all these? At this moment, the memories of the past begin to find relevance in their thoughts. Who makes the next move? Who will make the wrong move? Well, I’ll leave the rest of the story to your imaginations.

No matter the history that connects the individuals involved, the real question at that moment is: how can we pacify the so called infamous and notorious karma? What is their next step now?

 

I want to say with all sense of certainty that everyone of us has experienced and will experience one awkward situation or the other. It must not even be about an ex somewhere. It could be about a prospect anywhere.

Awkward situations are certain situations which seem difficult to deal with or handle, and elicits in us that feeling of uneasiness and or embarrassment. In an awkward situation, you are caught in the middle of backtracking or surging forward. The chills splash on you and your blushes are bared. Like the scene I recounted earlier, our guy finds himself in an approach-avoidance scenario. He can simply swallow up his pride and exchange pleasantries with her. He can as well take the door and bid his chances of employment in that company good bye. The possible scenarios are endless. You can see that any step he takes bears a great potential in terms of backfiring or facilitating his application.

 

One thing about these sort of situations is that you can only account for your own self. The way an event turns out is still dependent on the parties involved. Even if you follow the path of courtesy or decorum, the other party may do otherwise. Unless you are the only human being involved, it behooves on you then to follow your convictions at it relates to the situation in question.

One of the unique things about awkward situations is that you can hardly predict when or how they could happen. Even when you try, the scenario turns out differently. Here’s another scenario. A guy scammed you of a certain amount of money. As events turn out, he goes into hiding, off the radar of law enforcement. Years have passed, yet no information about him. You thought he’s no more in Nigeria. You guys swore to be enemies for life because of what happened. Then, you go for a scheduled appointment with your gynecologist and he’s among the residents that would attend to you prior the consultant’s appearance. ‘What is going on here?” might serve as a handy preamble. If there was an emergency, the scene will definitely be more dramatic.

Also, the probability of something good is a factor we can’t ignore. If there wasn’t, we can as well move on and damn the consequences. In your mind, you are convinced, there’s nothing to lose. However, we are subconsciously nudged by the saying that ‘nobody knows tomorrow.’ So, there’s a silent call for restraint.

Going forward, should awkward situations be avoided or confronted? Personally, I have come to understand that it’s better to confront situations than to avoid them. If what is at stake is important to you just like our guy earlier, you have to find a way to compromise. A compromise is any point between yes and no. It’s the point of ‘let’s do this’ found between “I will” and “I won’t”.

While we move to confront, there’s equally a need to do so wisely. This is where maturity comes in. It’s really unwise to continue the fights started eons ago because of ego. I acknowledge there could be other unaccounted factors. But my focus is on those situations probably instigated by ego. Even at that, does ego increase account balances or really add anything to your status? This is indeed the difficult part. How do you regard someone that doesn’t even know you exist? How do you maintain your cool even when your annoyance or vexation is well justified before the Supreme Court?

What are other aspects of awkward situations to consider?

Awkward situations are not permanent but what happens after the scene is dependent on how you manage the situation. Like the Americans will say, you could take the high road. If the other party can’t deal with it, that’s on them.

We don’t have to keep shying away from situations. The rate at which we do that tells a lot about our personal confidence. Confidence is indispensable in daily life. Perhaps, a particular event could make the difference between the present level and the next level of things. We require all the emotional ‘bulking up’ we can get. When situations get awkward, it’s better to continue moving forward mentally, emotionally and physically. The things that seemingly don’t matter, may matter more than we could have envisaged.

Sincerely, thank you for reading.

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