The illusion of progress

An observation:

A day of sobriety is better than a day of inebriation, and a day of being engaged with your family is better than a day apart from them, but we shouldn't mistake either thing for growth. They may be just another day in the same old behavioral cycle, depending on how you've approached them.

I think back - decades, now, thankfully - to the days when I evaluated every day in terms of whether I had offended, not understanding the nature of cycles; not seeing how lasting, healthy change was beyond my own capacity to carry out; not comprehending that my fundamental approach to life was an inseparable part of the problem.

But cycle-dwellers rarely have a sense of the overarching patterns of our lives. I am so grateful to be free of mine.