The challenges that arise whenever we intend to take a step forward in our lives are designed to make us think twice before actually taking that first step.
Fear of the unknown is precisely why most people decide not to take the step forward to make a genuine change in their lives.
Being as that we are creatures of habit, we find comfort in the things that are familiar to us.
Whether it is our relationships with others or a job that we hate, we hold on to the things that we are familiar with because fear of change presents us with vast amounts of uncertainty.
If a romantic relationship goes sour, it is natural for humans to be hung up on their ex because the thought of being with anyone else is unfamiliar.
When emotional feelings are involved, we hold onto these feelings and our perception of logic goes right out the window.
Have you ever noticed during a breakup with a significant other that you only tend to think about the good times you had with this person?
As if the bad things that happened all of the sudden disappear.
We hold on to the positive perception we had of someone or something because the pain of losing the thing or person is too much to bear.
We think that by going back to what is familiar to us, the pain will vanish out of thin air and we can go back to being happy, until we eventually find ourselves in the same repetitive cycle.
The pain cycle continues all over again and our behavior has not changed because we revert back to what is familiar.
The pain and the feelings we have in these scenarios remain unresolved the more we continue to fall back into our same repetitive patterns.
Let's say a romantic relationship goes sour and the pain you feel goes unresolved - your natural inclination will be to either go back to the same person, or immediately monkey branch into a new relationship with someone else.
Just having someone around has become familiar and the thought of not having someone around is disturbing and unfamiliar.
In this case, the best thing you can do is feel the pain because the price of progress is pain.
It is important to note that this concept doesn't just apply to romantic relationships, but applies to everything.
The only way to grow is to feel the pain and accept it for what it is.
Think about going to the gym to build your dream body - you are going to have to withstand an immense amount of pain over a long period of time to eventually see the results you are after.
The physical pain of having to put your body and your muscles to the test to lift more weight, be disciplined with your diet, and remain consistent in your regimen is the only way to achieve the results you are looking for.
In business, you are going to have to sacrifice and withstand the pain of losing over and over again until you can eventually break through and build something successful.
Sometimes this results in losing money or just feeling flat out hopeless like your ideas are never going to stick.
People begin to quit and give in when they are tired of having to sacrifice and not see immediate payoff for the pain they have had to go through.
You must be able to delay gratification and endure the pain of these losses if you ever want to have a chance in succeeding in the long term.
Like I always say, you must be willing to sacrifice your short term gratification for the long term reward of your efforts and consistency.
Even in relationships - it is easy to go back to what you are familiar with, even though deep down you know that the person you have feelings for isn't right for you or pursuing your life's purpose.
Relationships gone sour present us with an enormous challenge because of our feelings and being emotionally tied to someone else.
Failure of understanding these feelings is how we will find ourselves right back to repeating our same behavior.
Remember: if you continue to find yourself in the same undesired situation and your behavior remains the same, you have not learned anything.
It isn't until we begin to apply new behaviors to these situations that we open up our ability to learn new things and get different outcomes.
The price of progress is pain!
You must be able to channel that pain into a productive set of behaviors and establish a new pattern that suits you, your mission, and your purpose.
A failure to do so is only going to result in more unresolved pain and nothing to show for it.