Please don't hate yourself

I was fired from my job on December 11th, this year. I did something that I thought I would never do in all my years of being in the workforce: I got into a fight with a coworker inside the work premises.

I couldn’t believe it after it was all said and done. It wasn’t a physical fight, more so a screaming match but it got so tumultuous that it almost turned into a fist fight. This is the type of conduct I vehemently look down upon and swore I would never be a part of. If ever I had an issue with a coworker, I would take it to management and that was it. That’s all that should be done. That’s the thing I didn’t do this time.

I let my anger get the better of me and it cost me the opportunity to work permanently in a job that I actually loved doing. I’ve worked in the customer service industry for a long time but this job was my golden opportunity to prosper and I squandered it big time.

But the reason I’m writing this post isn’t to garner sympathy from strangers or to place the blame on to others except myself (it was my own doing) – I’m writing it to tell others, who have been unfortunate enough to go through a similar dilemma, to not hate yourself. Don’t hate yourself.

Don’t let that moment of blunder define you from that point on. I know I’m a great employee in whatever work establishment I set foot in and you should realize that about yourself too! Don’t allow the inadequacies of that mistep eat you up from the inside. What do I recommend doing to deal with it?

Own up to it.

Acknowledge your faults. Don’t place the blame on to others, even if you know for a fact that the other person pushed you to that point, you must realize that it was you that had the power to diffuse the situation and let whoever is in charge rectify it. Most of all, learn from the experience. Use it to create a better version of yourself and do what I did: apologize.

Apologize to those who were around that destructive behavior and let them know that you’re not who they might think you are.

I’m in the process of looking to have a meeting with HR about the whole incident and to try – ??? – to have another opportunity to work in the company. I’m also going to ask for the other coworker, whom I had the fight with, to come back and work alongside me.

That man was the first person that befriended me at that place and I don’t want to hurt his prospects neither. if nothing else comes from this, at least I take comfort in the fact that I have apologized to him, in person, and amended any hurt feelings between us.

This is one of the most jarringly abrupt experiences I’ve had in a while. The fact that I was doing so well for months, only to lose it all in a 3-minute fit of rage is dizzying for me. I never want to go through this again and I hope that no one goes through it ever.

If you have gone through this, I understand you. I know how you feel. It’s normal to be upset and feel disappointed about an experience like this but I must reiterate this one last time: Please, don’t hate yourself.

Own your mistakes & realize your worth.