Stop taking yourself so seriously. I was known as the smartest girl in class, and yet because of the skit I wound up being scolded and was given a C in front of everyone. My main embarassment came from the feeling that I ruined my “perfect” image. Yes, it’s important to try hard, but the world becomes an easier place once you recognize you’re also a human being susceptible to mistakes. Let loose a little.
Stop thinking everybody is thinking about you. Even if you’re a Kardashian, odds are, they probably aren’t. We’ve all had those embarrassing experiences of going to school with an atrocious haircut, tripping very hard in front of strangers, or saying something totally stupid to that gorgeous crush. Maybe people even made fun of you for it. But, it becomes old news very quickly. Laugh it off and move on. Everyone else has.
Start thinking about the future. So you happen to step into a big fresh pile of dog poo, and now every nickname your friends come up with are all poo-related? (True story.) At that moment, you might feel stupid for not looking where you were stepping, but think: how about a week later? Or a month later? Most of the time, you’ll realize that it wouldn’t really matter any more. And that will help you cope with the embarrassment faster. For me the embarrassment has long faded, and the only thing left is the vivid memory of how it feels when your foot steps into large amounts of gooey brown gunk. (Not fun.)