I think you should focus on the honorable path you chose and how you "took ownership of the problem." Most people would have a tough time with that. They might own up eventually, but it sounds like you handled it quickly and with maturity. I am sure the people around you are impressed by that, even if they are rolling their eyes at whatever went down.

I also think that these kinds of things can happen to anybody and onlookers, on some level, know it could have been them. We all screw up. It's how we handle it when we do that sets us apart. I imagine everyone is learning from your mistake and I would take heart in that, too.

Hope the clouds blow over quickly.

Life is a journey, pesky. There is no road map. This is a lesson you obviously needed to put in your traveling bag. We all have had them, if we're honest. It's the human condition.

Give yourself one night to mourn your imperfection, then jump back in and get on with your journey. Your mistake, or gross lapse of judgement (whatever the situation) obviously wasn't *that* bad or they would have let you go.

Here's to being a member of the flawed human condition. Here, here! If you want/need confessions, just let me know. LOL!

This too, shall pass. You stop when you tell yourself you have punished yourself enough (while believing it). I say give yourself another 5 minutes and then turn the page. This mistake doesn't represent who you are. It was just a mistake.

Now, we'll wait for the wise ones to offer up their opinions. Meanwhile, your 5 minutes has started. The timer is on. Don't let anyone push you around. Ask him if he's ever made a mistake. Hold your head high and get on with the journey.

I think you already gained your footing when you accepted the problem and initiated a plan to correct the mistake. I think much more of an inexperienced co-worker that makes a mistake and admits it than any co-worker that plays the blame game or makes excuses.

As far as the pushy guy- if he has to hold it over your head then his life is missing something. Don't let him be pushy to you, firmly let him know you will not tolerate it and he needs to approach you with a better attitude. Tell him you did your best by admitting your mistake and working to not make it again and it would be appreciated if he could focus his attention elsewhere instead of the past.

Mistakes happen and everybody has done it at some point- go have a bowl of ice cream and read a book, get some sleep and tomorrow is a new day!

I'll tell you what to do, but you have to not freak out.

Pretend you're a guy. That's right. A guy. Even the most sensitive and reasonable of men, the guy who fearlessly owns up to his shortcomings can run circles around most of us girls when it comes to not getting over our own flaws. A guy looks in the mirror and notices that he's starting to put on some weight. He thinks to himself, "Dang. I gotta go to the gym!" Then, he walks away and never gives his waistline another thought.
Woman looks in the mirror and sees that her hair didn't dry right. It looks a little flat. She doesn't have time to fix it and walks away. ALL DAY LONG she fluffs her hair, fusses with it, and worries about how she looks.

So, here is what you do and it will work with the pushy guy if you plan it and practice it.
Stop worrying. The boss has said you will get trained, you know you can do the job, that's the end of it. If anyone refers to the glitch again, you just look 'em in the eye and laugh. Yep. My bad. What's for lunch? Pushy guy makes a snarky remark? Pretend you are clueless. (Men are much better at this than women because they actually DO forget they screwed up.) Say, "Whaddyou mean?" If he specifically mentions the glitch, you stare and say, "Oh, are you still thinking about that? That was last week. Get over it dude!"

Yes ladies. The secret to ignoring your faults and moving on is to just do as the guys do.

Red

As usual Red, you are my hero. Wise words. Great delivery.

Wise words from all!

Thanks for talking about this -- I tend to do this ALL of the time!! ((by my own nature -- and generations of family history/nuture of "never forgive and never forget mistakes, slips, transgressions"))

Jan

"Do you ever beat yourself up?"

Formerly a lot more than I do now. I am now old enough to know that to err is human, and I have given myself permission to be human.

Pesky, forgive yourself. Everyone makes mistakes, and your pushy co-worker is no exception. Guilt is toxic. You have owned up to your mistake and you have taken the steps you need to to do better next time. You have done all that you can do. Enjoy the new training and the chance to learn something new.

Really..... give yourself permission to be human. I won't bore you with the details of how expensive learning that was for me.

I do this often, I can be such a perfectionist at times and one of my biggest fears has always been failure. However when I get all bent out of shape over something my wonderful DH just says to me "Are you gonna die from this?, Will it kill you? No? Than stop worrying about it, it doesn't matter." It usually snaps be back into reality and puts things into prospective.

He should know, when he was 8 he had a bone marrow transplant because of a rare genetic disease that almost killed him. Going through something like that would put everything else into perspective.

Most things are just small potatoes when you look at the big picture.

I believe we should judge a person based on 90% of what they do right, not 10% of what they do wrong.

I think you've received wise words from all. You're human (thank goodness).

This happened to me just a few weeks ago - and not from inexperience either. I screwed up at work in a pretty major way. Fortunately, due to the fact that I document (almost) everything I do the screw-up was fixable. The key is, really, to do just what you did. Own up to it as soon as you can and come up with a plan to fix it and to prevent it from happening in the future.

Yeah, I still beat myself up about it for a bit but now we just joke about it.

Aw, pesky, I'm sorry you're feeling so bad about this. Everyone gave great advice, and they are so tight: you said you messed up, you're working to correct it, and make sure it won't happen again. What more can you do?

Well, a glass of wine probably wouldn't hurt.

At least you haven't ruined your kid, as I have on so many, many occasions. Red is too right - my dh can yell at dd and forget about it five minutes later. I hang my head and convince myself I'm Mommy Dearest. (Not that I'm advocating yelling at kids, but these things happen in the best families.)

Yes, a glass of wine for me as well :-)
Cheers!

I used to beat myself up about stuff. Then I stopped.

My dreams made me realize I had turned a corner. I used to have dreams where I was caught in an embarrassing situation - suddenly naked or sitting on a toilet in the open for everyone to see. Then I continued to have the dreams, but in the dreams, I would be embarrassed but brush it off.

I am not sure when I got to that point, but it came from just forcing myself to stop the negative thoughts.

You all are so terrific. Just posting this was cathartic...and let me tell you, I was just sick yesterday and even this morning.

The guy isn't a co-worker, he's a consultant whose work I review. I've never been fond of him, just something in my spidey senses told me he was too arrogant. Well, he sure was, and he crossed my boss BIG TIME. Mistake!! His arrogance was his undoing, and he basically had to apologize to her. It was pretty half-baked, but it gave her (and I) the upper hand again.

I told her she was my hero. I have taken your good advice to heart and feel much better. I don't usually get this way, but this guy really got to me. And I have to chalk it up to a learning experience. I used some of your encouragement today while at another meeting. Not gonna let these guys push me around. Instead, I'll take Red's words to heart and act like a guy myself! Hey, in the field I work in, you have to have a guy 'tude or you get tromped over.

Thank you all!!