When You Fall Off Your High Horse, Don’t Get Off the Horse Altogether

Yesterday I shouted at my daughter in such a way that I am ashamed to admit it.  I had certainly fallen off my high horse of feeling like a good parent (again).  But I also felt like getting off the horse of “good parenting” altogether, both hating myself for getting it wrong and thinking I’ll just never get it right.  I felt like spending less time with my kids so that I won’t hurt them, so that I will make less of a mess of their lives.  But the point of my “What Adam Was Doing Right” reflection rang in my head.  “No, I need to do just the opposite: Spend more time so that I can fail more…and hopefully put the failures further and further apart…until I get better at parenting.”

There’s really no good alternative, if you think about it.  If I spend less time with them in order to hurt them less, I hurt them more…through neglect.  If I spend more time, the failures are inevitable.

Presented with the choice in this way, I choose the courageous action of being “on the horse” rather than the cowardly retreat of getting off of the horse altogether in order to avoid failure at all costs. I think the key is to place hopeful trust in Christ to build virtue into me through very small baby steps.

Recent Posts in this Series:
A Tale of Two Gifts (Christmas Letter + Extras)
My “Don’t Be Like Me” Story(s) – Lest We Get Cocky
What Adam Was Doing Right
When You Fall Off Your High Horse, Don’t Get Off the Horse Altogether
On Scribbles and False Ideas: Are They Beautiful?