blue graphic with white text that says We grow much more spiritually by getting it wrong than by getting it right

Getting It Wrong

waterfall flowing into a pool below
Image courtesy of DAPA Images

“We grow much more spiritually by getting it wrong than by getting it right.” —Richard Rohr, Falling Upward

I really don’t want this to be true.

I would really like to get it right, grow a little, get it right again, grow a little more, and keep that going for the rest of my life.

Instead, I snap at my kids. I wake up in the morning and regret the third glass of wine from the night before.I think back on a conversation with a friend and realize I spoke badly, and unfairly, about another friend. I notice a seed of jealousy inside me about another writer’s success. I shame myself for how tight my pants are. I judge people for worrying. I worry. 

The list of the ways I get things wrong—life, family, self-care, serving others—could go on and on.

I see these as impediments and obstacles to growth, and they can be, if I live in that place of ignoring them, denying them, or shaming myself as a result of them.

Or they can be the means of growth. The invitation to pray. To say I’m sorry. To ask for help. To stand under the waterfall of grace.


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