You can't escape it...
I've always been an anxious guy. I'm on three different medications daily to keep myself functional in society.
But the older I get, it seems like a lot of it is naturally fading — through The Universe™ humbling me and forcing me to deal with embarrassing shit. Or maybe it's not so profound; we all fuck things up and embarrass ourselves from time to time. Maybe I'm just getting my reps in and realizing shit happens and it's almost never a big deal.
Like today at Kroger. It's obnoxious how they do sales all the time, like buy two get two free on soda instead of just lowering the goddamn price and letting me walk out with one 12 pack of Pepsi for $5 instead of either buying four for $20 or one for $10.
So I have my little cart loaded up with 48 cans of soda, and I have to put it on the self checkout shelf and weigh it to make sure I'm not trying to pull off some elaborate soft drink heist.
I go to pick up the last 12 pack, it rips open and two cans come flying out of the box at terminal velocity and create a fountain of soda to rival The Gathering of the Juggalos. Luckily it was all zero sugar. I felt so fucking bad though lmao the guy in front of me just laughed and said it was okay but the self checkout lady was, understandably, a little pissed. I offered to help clean it up but she said someone was on the way to take care of it and it wasn't a big deal. Sort of a JUST FUCKING GO ALREADY vibe...
If that would've happened a few years ago, I would've freaked out and locked myself in the house for days, let alone ever go back to Kroger. But as shitty as I felt for making the self-checkout lady's day just a little worse, nothing happened. I didn't feel embarrassed really; just like a dumb ass for trusting a flimsy cardboard handle. It wasn't on the 5 o' clock news, my face wasn't plastered up on some wall of shame, no one was pointing and laughing. It sucked, but I survived.
Embarrassing shit happens. My biggest thing is learning how to stop trying to anticipate every possible horrible outcome. Because no matter how hard you try and plan for the worst, something dumb and embarrassing is bound to happen for a completely unexpected and unpredictable reason anyway, sometimes. And that's fine. Part of life, even.
Take more risks. You're going to embarrass yourself in one way or another, whether you step out of your comfort zone or not. No one really cares.