“If there’s one thing I don’t like about falling off a roof, it’s the pain involved.”
– Goofy
Oftentimes wisdom is clothed in foolishness, and the wise ignored because they are walking as the common instead of holding themselves out.
We avoid pain because it hurts.
We use pain as an early warning system to prevent destruction.
Pain is a feedback mechanism to preserve our current situation, even if it is suboptimal because becoming new requires leaving the old, like a snake shedding its skin or an eagle plucking out the old feathers.
Our highly evolved neocortex sees the potential for pain as payment for excellence and allies with our older neurological systems to say “Nope, comfort good. Avoid pain, stay same.” So we stay in the comfort zones and don’t jump out of a plane and fall because our brain sees the pain potential and restrains us to a safe but boring existence, a servitude to current comfort instead of an apprenticeship to excitement.
Yes, the adventurous way will be difficult. At times it will hurt. It could even kill you. But we are all going to die eventually anyway, why not have stories and a rush along the way?