Extremely well written and said. Kudos to you.
This historical behavior, to me, implies two things:
1) For cryptocurrency as it is today, even "stability" sees 20% fluctuations.
2) Months-long periods of this "stability" are normal; not everything is boom or bust.
So today, with prices going back and forth between (roughly) $11k and $13k, I can't help but think that folks who are taking every motion as an omen of a larger trend are wearing themselves out needlessly. This might just be the start of another stable period - a chance for the ecosystem to get comfortable with the idea that $12k is the "normal" price of a bitcoin.
Calm down. "It" doesn't have to happen today, or even this month. It'll happen when it happens.
This correction should really only spook out those who were trading on margin that were going long with tons of leverage, or weak hands who probably bought due to the fear of missing out at highs of around $13k. Long term investors should not be concerned whatsoever.
These periods of sustained dips, as you mentioned, are nothing out of the ordinary even in bull markets. Especially when you look at this type of market activity as consolidation (especially from a psychological standpoint, the notion that you mentioned as "people get comfortable with these prices") of gains that were made over past months, it's actually
healthy.
Plus, looking at historical trends, it's very likely that prices will likely near its peak only after the halving which is still miles away. Relax, take this opportunity to bring your buy average down. I'm confident enough in bitcoin's fundamentals, especially after LN, that adoption will pick up over the long run.