how thin the thread

Foolishly, lazily, I took a week off.
You will not mind, I said to myself.
Everyone needs a break now and then.
And now . . . . I find I have to start all over again:
the thinnest thread almost - but not quite -
broken.
twisted and feeble
Now, knowing almost nothing,
I am a beginner again. 

Time after time . . . .  

but, don't forget,
the thread is purest gold still.
Source of life;
more valuable than life itself.