Rb25 trans shifter bushing stuck

[Josh69]

Out of ignorance and laziness i have found myself in a predicament where I cannot remove the shifter for the life of me 

I had already removed my shifter and wanted to put the car in gear, so i tried to quickly reassemble by just pushing the nylon shifter bushing into its hole without any collars or circlips etc, not realizing the bushing can come out of the bottom of the hole if pushed too deep, and of course, it did. Now the bushing is pivoting freely under the hole  it operates in and ive spent hours trying to slide it back through without any luck or any sign that I am close. Can anybody tell me if its even possible to slide back through, or should I be going about this a different way?