Awkward moments....

Awkward moments are like the punctuation in the sentences of my life. They are so prevalent that I have come to expect/anticipate them in nearly every situation I encounter. They used to really bother me because I didn't understand why they occurred.

At one time, I knew a lady who was in her mid-forties, married with teenage kids who found out she was pregnant with another child.

Pregnancy is a touchy subject, and every man and woman approaches it with a different attitude.

I don't like making assumptions about ambiguous information, and body language says a lot about how someone is feeling. If someone says "I'm pregnant!" and has a radiant smile on her/his face, then I would say "congratulations!" because they've already told you...without having to say anything...how they felt about it. If someone says "I'm pregnant" with a straight face, they are probably early in the pregnancy and/or are ambivalent about it.

I did something that is pretty characteristic for me: I asked her how she felt about the news...Not in a confrontational way, I just said something like "Wow, that's got to be a big change in your life."

This is called an open-ended question. It allows people to collect their thoughts and express themselves the way they want to as opposed to 'bating' someone to give a certain response.

She told me that although it was unexpected, she viewed it as a blessing from God. After she was done talking I congratulated her. Then she gave me a hug, which I wasn't expecting but I returned it.

Afterward there was a silence for a moment, then she asked me, "Was that awkward for you." I told her the truth; that it had caught me off-guard. NEVER TELL THAT TO A PREGNANT WOMAN!
I wish I wasn't so blunt, but I am. No tact at all!

She started bawling and I was all like "Aww... don't cry!” I tried to explain that it wasn't her fault "Hugs are good!", but that just made it worse...

That's when I started becoming aware of the abundance of awkward moments in my life.

There are misunderstandings in life, people are different (me) and don't react the way you might expect (me).

I didn't think of the hug as awkward, but she obviously did. This instance made me be more cognizant of my body language and how I interact with others.

But it also kind of helped me look at people in a new way. Because even though people are different, all want the same things (unless you have a severe personality disorder); to feel understood, respected, and loved.
I try to feel for what they mean instead of just hear what they say.