Yes, keb, the way is not always straight up, but hopefully Trending upwards - look at the straight blue central line in this image and not at all of the little ups and downs, peaks and troughs.

The other thing about the spiral is that usually in our lives there are a lot of different issues we are trying to work through. On the spiral, we move around, past different issues, try to make progress and then another issue comes into view which needs attention. But, when we look back at our progress and compare where we started, way back there, it becomes clearer that we have made progress. If we only looked forward to our goals we would become overwhelmed at where we hope to be, but looking at how far and how well we have progressed already brings hope and optimism for future progress.

That's how I view the milestones in my life. I'm not there yet, where I want to be, but I have made a lot of progress so far.