When Gary worked in a substance abuse program, he encountered this attitude all the time. Many of the clients experienced such suffering because of the image of perfection they had in their heads, an image totally unrealistic for who they were, and
an image that was ultimately destructive. The difference between that image of perfection and the reality of their lives was a wide, wide chasm, and when they perceived the reality of the chasm, they could find no joy in today, no reasonable way
to get across. Defeated, they would slip back into substance abuse.