Embarrasment

I will be turning 30 in March. I can say that because it's still February. All the wisest people of the world (Confucious, Ghandi, my second graders...okay, really, this is just something I've made up...) say that there are two ways to bring on an event such as this. You can either do something life-changing and meaningful, or you can do something exceptionally stupid. I'm taking care of both. On the actual date of my birth, I will be working in an orphanage in Mexico. I say that, not to be overly pious, but to say that I took care of exceptionally stupid on Saturday night.

I'm not going into details. According to Lisa, what happens there, stays there. I'm good with that. However, several friends (both here and in other states) were worried that I'd sufficiently embarassed myself beyond measure. Rest assured, my friends, I have.

Embarassed. Capital M-barassed. Luckily (?) I have quite a bit of experience with embarassment. There was the time that I fell from the top steps of the balcony down to almost the bottom. There was the time I got my car stuck in the sand in someplace I really wasn't supposed to be in and had to have it dug out. And let's not forget that one Christmas Eve candlelight service that one time...me? I'm a pro at embarassment.

The thing is, at the end of it all, if you can't laugh at yourself, then what good are you? I have to be able to open up and say "My name's Jen, and I did something stupid." With all of these experiences under my belt, I've learned that the best way to deal with it is to open up and own it, and admit that I'm human and do stupid things that have equally stupid and embarassing results.

And I'm blessed with family members that love me enough to never let me forget my embarassing mistakes, lest I let them happen again. And I have friends. That call me the next day to check on me. That swear they'll never talk about it, but will also try to cut the sting by telling me about their equally-embarassing moments.

And I have to be all there. I have to live to the hilt every situation I believe to be the will of God...even the embarassing ones.