Blushing is the colour of virtue.

The capacity to be embarrassed is a sign that something inside you still registers. People who can no longer be caught out, who feel nothing when found in the wrong, have not become stronger; they have lost a working part. The discomfort is unpleasant precisely because it is doing its job.

Next time you feel that heat, stay with it for a second before explaining it away. Ask what exactly it is objecting to, then do the small repair it is pointing at: the correction, the apology, the admission. Handled that way it passes quickly; ignoring it is what makes it linger.