50 People Who Are Having A Worse Day Than You (New Pics)

Dealing with unexpected situations can be tricky. And not just in terms of the money needed to clean up the mess. "Some degree of anxiety is normal and even necessary," Dr. Ann Epstein, a psychiatrist at Harvard-affiliated Cambridge Health Alliance and medical editor of the Harvard Special Health Report Coping with Anxiety and Stress, said.

"Anxiety signals to us that something is awry or might need our attention. However, you don't want the response to become exaggerated or to dominate your life," Epstein explained. Good coping mechanisms for stress and anxiety can help you get through turbulent times.

But Vanessa Bohns, an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Cornell University and the author of the forthcoming book 'You Have More Influence Than You Think,’ had some good news for us. In an earlier Bored Panda interview, she said that being embarrassed (and not hiding it!) can actually help us connect with other people. Hopefully, it’ll convince you to embrace blushing, feeling embarrassed, and being in awkward situations.

“Displaying signs of mild embarrassment can actually be socially constructive and make people feel more sympathetic towards you in the face of your faux pas,” Vanessa explained.

“I don’t necessarily think you need to take pains to hide it,” Vanessa added that we ought to avoid running away from our embarrassment or pretending that we’re not feeling like we’re feeling.

However, there is something that we should be aware of and that’s not letting our embarrassment turn to shame. A healthy dose of blushing and awkward mumbling is one thing, but deep-seated shame is problematic in the long run.

“What you want to be careful not to do is to let embarrassment morph into the more destructive self-conscious emotion of shame, where you feel so badly about a minor mistake that you start to think there is something wrong with you and feel the need to completely disappear and hide away yourself,” Vanessa said.

Hopefully, this list will convince you to embrace blushing and climb out of awkward situations with stronger interpersonal connections!