What to do if I lost a shifter bushing?

[LKTV]

I was installing my aftermarket CorkSport solid shift bushings and everything was going OK, until I tried to put in the top left bushing.

I decided I would start there because it seemed like the hardest one and I figured I might as well get it out of the way. Well, about 5 seconds into trying to put it in place it slipped out of my greasy fingers (didn't bother wiping my hands after touching the greased shifter assembly, of course). It slipped into that demonic black void to the left of the shifter assembly behind the carpet. I dug and dug, and dug some more. No dice.

I figured i'd put the rest in and then put the washer where the lost one should go and tighten it until it felt even so that it didn't sink the top left side in, since there was no washer.

I started it up and drove a few miles and all felt fine, and tighter, of course.

Anyway, anyone know if this will in some way hurt my shifter assembly? Everything felt fine but I'm not sure if I could be hurting it in the long run. Help!

EDIT: I now realize similar threads have been posted about this before, although no one really said how bad/not bad it is for your assembly.