Brave Monday — A lot of people choose to suffer because the solution to their problems requires a lifestyle change

Brave Monday is a reflection on courage, honesty, and the psychological choices that shape our lives.

Some people are not trapped in their suffering — they are protecting a lifestyle their healing would force them to abandon.

This is not written to judge anyone. Pain is real. Struggles are real. Many people are carrying more than others can see. But there is an uncomfortable truth we rarely talk about: real change does not only ask for insight — it asks for disruption.

Healing often demands that we live differently. It may require stronger boundaries, more honest conversations, and the courage to walk away from relationships, environments, or habits that quietly keep us stuck. Sometimes it means taking responsibility where we once placed blame. Sometimes it means releasing coping mechanisms that once protected us but now prevent us from growing.

And even when suffering hurts, familiarity can feel safer than the unknown. The human mind is wired to prefer predictable discomfort over uncertain freedom. So we wait. We tell ourselves we will change when we feel ready, when life calms down, when fear disappears.

But readiness is rarely a feeling. It is a decision.

At some point, the question shifts from "Why is this happening to me?" to a far more demanding one: "Am I willing to live differently?"

Because change almost always costs something. It may cost comfort. It may cost identity. It may even cost certain people. But staying the same has a price too — a quieter one — paid in postponed lives, muted potential, and versions of ourselves we never become.

Suffering can feel familiar. Change can feel dangerous.

But only one of them has the power to move your life forward.

Raymond and Ken