Getting embarrassed is normal but at some point in people’s lives, it turns out to be a significant moment in their lives.
Two experiences from my university days remain etched in my memory as turning points that transformed my approach to challenges.
The first one was during a music rehearsal in my fellowship group at school. Recently I began to take classes of the keyboard and was excited to share the results with everyone. Nonetheless, my professional performances were far from perfect; at some point during the rehearsal, my playing was wrong. The leader paused the session, turned to me, and kindly said, “Excuse me, can you, please, stop?” You’re disrupting the flow.” Silently, the room quietened down, and I sensed that all their attention was fully on me. My cheeks became red with embarrassment and I wanted to melt into the floor and disappear.
That painful moment served as a turning point that someone needed. But unlike any other times when I would have quit, I decided to do better. They made me ensure I spent a lot of my time in front of the camera watching different tutorials as well as taking the comments I received very seriously. Two years later I was among the few selected as a keyboard player in fellowship and was at times engaged in playing during praise and worship sessions and was always receiving praises for my ability on the keyboard. That experience of moving from ridicule to recognition was a good lesson on how perseverance and self-confidence can transform failure into success.
The second occurrence was in my 200-level Applied Mechanics examination. I hardly went for any classes to attend lectures, something which I thought I could handle by ‘crashing’ the classes. While in the exam hall, the only thing I bothered to write was whatever I knew, which was extremely little when the invigilator came over to attend to me. He peeped into my answer booklet, laughed and asked me if I knew what I was doing. He said it out loud and it resounded in the hall, and my coursemates bursted into laughter. They made me feel so embarrassed I thought the world was laughing at me.
That moment made me realize that I had become very relaxed. I comprehended that I had paid the cost of not being serious enough. From that day I decided to attend classes and get an active participation in my study processes and approach my work seriously. It was not an immediate change, but it was an overall change.
These were useful encounters since they adjusted me to make myself less vulnerable to further public embarrassments. They shaped my character, instilled resilience, and taught me the importance of hard work and humility. Another thing a person must learn is that embarrassment often precedes the way to improvements and success in life.
Thank you for reading❤️💯
