....In the beginning we may erroneously imagine spiritual practice to be a linear journey, traveling over a certain landscape to a faraway destination of enlightenment. But it is better described as a widening circle or spiral that opens our hearts and gradually infuses our consciousness to include all of life as a spiritual whole. At each new level of our practice, we experience a transformation. Inevitably, the question of how to navigate transitions in both our life circumstances and our practice will also recur. Twenty-five years ago Ram Dass described the cycles of spiritual life in Be Here Now.

Practice is like a roller coaster. Each new high is usually followed by a new low. Understanding this, it makes it a bit easier to ride with both phases. . . There is in addition to the up-and-down cycles an in-and-out cycle. That is, there are stages at which you feel pulled into inner work and all you seek is a quiet place to meditate and get on with it, and then there are times when you turn outward and seek to be involved in the marketplace. Both of these parts of the cycle are part of one's practice, for what happens to you in the marketplace helps in your meditation, and what happens in your meditation helps you to participate in the marketplace without attachment. . . At first you will think of practice as a limited part of your life. In time you will realize that everything you do is part of your practice. . .

From A Path With Heart A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life by Jack Kornfield