You're not stuck in a loop, you're growing

When I realized my emotional cycles were actually tree tings

Do you ever feel trapped on an emotional roller coaster that never seems to stop? For years, I viewed my mental ups and downs as a problem to solve. An oscillating wave to be flattened. A pattern to be fixed.

I've been battling for years to reduce the amount, depth, and duration of the downs. But lately, I've had an insight that completely reframes this pattern – one that transforms what I saw as a weakness into evidence of growth.
A profound perspective shift.

Instead of looking at these as "good times" and "bad times," I look at it like rings of a tree trunk.
Each emotional cycle is a season that adds a ring to me, becoming part of who I am.
I'm growing.

Look at a cross-section of an old tree. The rings aren't uniform or symmetrical—some are thick, some thin, some light, some dark—yet together they create something magnificent, mesmerizing. My emotional landscape is creating something similar within me. Some rings are narrow (drought season), others wider (during abundance), but each one makes the tree what it is, they're part of its beauty, strength, and uniqueness.
Each ring tells the story of the season.

Some seasons are rough, some are easier, but I grow from all of them.

In abundance seasons, I learn to share.
In drought seasons, I learn to conserve.
In storm seasons, I learn to shelter, bend and dance with the wind.
Every season—a different lesson, a different ring.

My cycles aren't just repeating - they're expanding my knowledge of myself and my understanding of the world.
The older the tree, the more rings it has and often the stronger it is.

My cycles aren't weakness - they're a document of my experiences, of the lessons I learned. Teaching me to know myself better.

"What is this season teaching?"

We aren't meant to be emotional flatlines.
Our uniqueness comes from our valleys as much as our peaks—each cycle adding another ring to the magnificent trees we're becoming.

The strongest, most magnificent trees aren't those with the most uniform growth - they're the ones that have weathered countless seasons. My emotional variability isn't something to overcome, but the mechanism through which I discover myself and develop "my" character.

What "ring" are you developing right now?

If you're going through a drought season, even if it doesn't feel like it right now. Know that you are growing, a new ring is being formed.

Turns out I'm not broken after all. Just growing, one ring at a time.
Keep growing!