Embrace the cringe.
Or why being prepared to look stupid makes you look tough.
Just Do It.
For when you don’t know how to behave.
Embrace the cringe.
For when you feel like you’re making a fool of yourself.
Embrace the cringe.
For when you feel like they’re making fun of yourself. Snarling, sending cheeky smiles, talking behind your back.
For when you feel like you’re not enough. Like you bite more than you can chew. Like you found yourself in a place way beyond your pay grade.
Embrace the cringe.
It’s all about you. No one cares about you.
Being consciously and confidentially cringe makes a powerful power statement. Meaning you’re in control. Your play - on your terms. No way to hurt you.
That doesn’t mean you’re to be an arrogant prick. Nor intentionally over-the-top, annoying, or inconsiderate. That means, once again we’re coming back to the subject of prepping yourself beforehand - this time mentally.
Taking yourself off the hook means you cannot be thrown off the balance. Ultimately, the only reception of the situation we can influence is our own. For this - I can prepare myself.
I’m not as cool as I’d like to be. I’m not as funny or charming. My jokes can miss, empathy fail, and behaviour be inappropriately out of place. I know that. And I own that. Or at least try to.
Still - that’s enough. Really. No one is as cool as you’d think. No one is as successful or interesting. Everyone tries to act cool, successful, interesting. Everyone tries to hold onto the fragile visage. That mask and dust that’s gonna be swept away at one point. Publicly or not - doesn’t matter. You know that. Been there, done that. When we tried to show off - and it didn’t turn out as we’d like to. Or were called out on some bs. Scoffed upon because of what you said and/or done.
It hurts, doesn’t it? Colors you red. Makes you wish for a disappearance and push to run away. So later that day we beat ourselves up for that one stupid thing we will remember for the next weeks or months. New core memory (trauma?) - unlocked?
So. Fucking. What.
In the long run, no one cares about your cringe. Just you.
In the short run? Your reaction matters more than the situation itself. We’re all like that. It’s just some of us mask things better. Or - well - simply embrace the cringe.