Saturday, April 18, 2026

Deviation #2

A reflection on deviation as a shift in thinking that precedes behavior, highlighting how subtle justification leads to going off track.

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Deviation often begins through subtle shifts in thinking long before the change becomes visible in behavior.

I am beginning to notice that the shift often happens before the action itself. Deviation does not usually begin with behavior—it begins with thinking.

Before I go off track, there is often a subtle shift in how I justify things. My reasoning changes in small ways, making the deviation feel more acceptable.

The behavior may be what other people notice, but the real shift usually happens earlier.

Looking back, I often focused more on what I did than on the thinking that led up to it. Recovery is teaching me that staying aligned depends on noticing when my thinking starts to drift.

This also connects directly to “it works if you work it,” because once my thinking drifts, my engagement with the system changes. It also connects to “do your thing,” because staying focused on what I am supposed to do leaves less space for that kind of drift.

For me, deviation is not only leaving the path—it is gradually redefining the path in ways that eventually take me somewhere else. Today, I am trying to pay attention not only to my actions but also to the thinking that precedes them.