The Pain of Change

People sometimes say that change is painful. One of sources of pain comes from resistance to change. Even when we know that a particular change is something we want or need, we may resist it because change means leaving what we know and moving into unknown territory. Some pain may come from waiting longer than necessary to accept change. We may only move forward when the pain becomes unbearable. So, rather than being a characteristic of change, pain may be the tool we use to allow ourselves to change. This topic is beautifully addressed in Elizabeth Gilbert's book, Eat, Pray, Love.