I found a quote from an eighteenth century monk called Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain… you might like to take this on board. He says: You must know that progress on the path of spiritual life differs greatly from an ordinary journey on earth. If a traveller stops on his ordinary journey, he loses nothing of the way already covered; but if a traveller on the path of virtue stops in his spiritual progress, he loses much of the virtues previously acquired. – In other words, on a normal journey, if you stop travelling, well then, you’ve still covered all the distance you’ve already travelled. But if you falter or stop on your spiritual journey, you slip back and lose much of the ground you’d previously gained.

Source: J. John, Soul Purpose, p.254