My personal strategy in dealing with stress is usually to push through until I get home, and then sleep it off. Unfortunately, my body's strategy to dealing with stress is a bit different--it dumps (pun intended) everything. Quickly and quite dramatically.
So yeah. There I was, in a panic, rushing to the staff restroom, only to discover someone else was in the other stall.
Yikes.
If there's one thing you want to avoid, it's having a witness for a dramatic pooping incident at your place of employment. My hopes of a quiet in and out were gone.
This was happening.
It was awkward.
So. Incredibly. Awkward.
Finally I decided to do what I encourage my students to do: embrace the awkward and own the situation. So I named it and owned it and said, out loud, "This is NOT awkward at all. I'm SO sorry."
And you know what?
A friendly voice came from the other stall. Someone I knew wouldn't judge me or my situation. She even offered encouragement, "Are you okay?'
And boom. Embarrassment gone. It was what it was.
I remembered that everybody poops. Poop happens. It really does.
Look. Poop is messy. And stinky. And really NOT a great thing to share with others. We definitely SHOULD try to keep our poopy experiences (trouble with spouses, kids, coworkers) to ourselves. I think we all try to show the world our best selves, and I think that in many ways this is good. I mean, my best self is someone who is kind and thoughtful and creative and encouraging of others.
But I am not always strong. And I definitely have dramatic mess ups sometimes. And sometimes as much as I'd love to, I can't take care of it privately. And I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this.
What if, when faced with the public poops of our lives, instead of pretending they aren't happening or hiding in silence, we just own it and do our best to fix it and move on?
Poop happens.
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