A Quirk

"I'm embarrassed."

These are two words that I will never exhaust. I assumed that the majority of people faced around the same amount of embarrassing situations that I face, but after talking to some of the girls on my hall this year, I've come to the heart-wrenching realization that I might be alone in this. I am a magnet for all things embarrassing.

My humiliation has a pretty long track record. Once I was walking up a flight of stairs at the college I was dual-enrolled in throughout high school. Class was going to start in a couple of minutes, and I was leading the long procession of students who were marching up the stairs to get to their classes on time. A guy-a cute guy, might I add-from my class was right behind me on the stairs, and I was self-consciously aware of his presence the entire time I was hiking the never-ending staircases. I kept telling myself, "Do not trip me up, feet. You're going to want to trip me. Don't." When I finally made it to the last portion of steps and the door was in sight, a triumphant grin plastered itself onto my face. I had made it! I had hiked the stairs in front of the cute boy in my next class flawlessly!

Then I tripped. 

My stupid sandal caught the edge of the third stair from the top, and I fell forward, catching myself on my hands while blushing profusely. The guy behind me asked if I was okay and made an attempt to help me, but as much help as he could give, my pride could not be salvaged.  

Guys, crap like this happens to me ALL THE TIME. I have to take extra precautions when walking up stairs. I can't use the bathroom while wearing a skirt unless I want to walk around with it tucked into my underwear all day. And forget Facebook stalking my crush without accidentally tagging my friends in his profile picture! The embarrassment just won't relent.

I find myself wishing it away most of the time, but then I stop and really think about it. If someone were to take away all the embarrassing, fantastically humiliating things that happen to me on a daily basis, I'd have absolutely nothing to talk about. My life would be dull, and sad, and boring, and not really much of a life at all. I'm not saying that I love being an Embarrassment Magnet, but I'm somewhat thankful those little moments are there. 

Sometimes it's hard to get along with our quirks. However, I've learned that our quirky traits are a vital part of who we are. There is always a bright side to them, and, nine times out of ten, if you just embrace them, others will as well.