Guilt is eating me alive
Yesterday I had to go into the city, I haven't driven in the city in well over a year now and I'm terrible at it. When I took a turn off a side street the light ahead was green, however I was focused on figuring out what lane I needed to be in and didnt realize it had turned yellow and soon red. I blew the light and thankfully did not hit anyone but I and feeling so horrible about it. I'm cringing at the thought and I've cried about it. I know it was a mistake, but that's not a mistake I wanna make ever. I could have hurt someone and it's got me feeling sick.
I know I need to slow down and calm down in the car, getting lost isn't the end of the world but it's not helping me with the ongoing guilt. I've prayed and done all I can to learn from this and move past it but any other advice?
That must have been terrifing and I can feel my stress going up just thinking about this because it sounds like something I would do. And I'm sure we're not the only two. This could have happened to almost anyone and for that reason, you should try to give yourself a break and not pile so much guilt on yourself for a mistake. Yes, it could have been worse but it wasn't this time. You were lucky and you can use this mistake as an important lesson to take advatage of.
I'm sorry that you were struggling with guilt after this happened. I think you did the right thing to try to lower your anxiety through prayer and trying to absolve the guilt. The only other thing I think could work is to find other types of grounding techniques to lower your anxiety even lower. Or meditation to clear your mind.
Since it's been a while since this happened, have you been feeling better? I hope that the guilt isn't still overwhelming you.