What Are You Embarrassed Of?

The warmer evenings have brought back one of my favorite simple joys.

Lying on the trampoline and watching the stars.

The kind of quiet that feels rare.

The sky getting darker by the minute.

The world slowing down.

And because we live on a street without street lights, once night settles in, it gets really dark.

What Are You Embarrassed Of?

The kind of dark where shapes become guesses.

That evening, my daughter had taken our puppy for a walk.

I was lying there, enjoying the stillness, when I noticed a silhouette walking nearby.

Naturally, I assumed it was her.

So I called out:

“Hey girl!”

Silence.

Nothing.

No answer.

And in that exact second, my brain changed the entire story.

Wait… what if that’s not my daughter?

Now I’m suddenly convinced it’s some random man walking in the dark.

And what did I do?

I ducked down into the trampoline.

Yes!!!

A fully grown adult hiding in a trampoline.

Even writing this makes me laugh.

A few moments later, as the figure got closer, I realized…

It was my daughter.

Oh!!! What a relief....

Of course.

When she got to me, I was already laughing.

I asked if she wanted to hear something funny.

And as I told her my side of the story, she told me hers.

While she was walking, she had actually been wondering if I would notice her in the dark.

She heard me call out.

She just chose not to answer.

Which made my imagination do the rest.

And honestly?

I still laugh thinking about it.

But isn’t that how life works sometimes?

We create stories in our minds so quickly.

Stories based on assumptions.

Fear.

Incomplete information.

Embarrassment.

And before we know it, we react to a version of reality that may not even be true.

That happens in business more than people realize.

A number changes.

Cash feels tight.

A project gets delayed.

A client goes quiet.

And suddenly the mind starts filling in the blanks.

Worst-case scenarios.

Stress stories.

Fear-driven assumptions.

Reactions based on what we think is happening instead of what we actually know.

That’s an expensive way to lead.

Because assumptions create unnecessary pressure.

Clarity changes the story.

So let me ask you something.

What are you embarrassed about?

Something you got wrong?

A decision that didn’t go the way you expected?

A moment where your mind created a bigger story than reality?

And here’s the better question:

Can you laugh about it?

Can you learn from it?

Because some of the best lessons come from the stories we’d rather not admit happened.

Even trampoline ones.