The Cost of Staying Dry
Choosing growth isn’t just about courage. It’s about cost. To change, you have to give something up—comfort, certainty, even identity. And deep down, many of us decide we’d rather stay soaked.
Nobody tells you how expensive it is to actually change.
We talk about growth like it’s an upgrade.
Level up. Evolve. Transform.
But most of the time, change starts with a kind of loss.
To stay dry, you have to reach for the umbrella.
But doing that means admitting it’s raining.
Admitting you don’t have it figured out.
Admitting you need help—or worse—need to do something differently.
And that’s when it hits:
“If I do this, I can’t keep being who I was.”
That’s the real cost.
Change isn’t a behavior shift.
It’s an identity rupture.
You have to let go of being “the scrappy one,” or “the independent one,” or “the one who always pushes through without help.”
You have to give up the role you played to survive—
even if it served you for years.
And even if it’s been hurting you quietly all along.
I’ve seen this play out over and over:
- A leader who wants more collaboration, but can’t give up control.
- A player who wants more confidence, but refuses to practice vulnerability.
- A friend who wants to feel supported, but won't risk letting anyone close enough to actually help.
They don’t just fear the new outcome.
They fear becoming someone else.
And honestly? They’re not wrong to fear that.
Because real growth will change you.
That’s the uncomfortable truth we skip over in self-improvement culture:
You don’t just grow—you grieve.
You lose the stories you clung to.
You lose the permission to blame the storm.
You lose the comfort of staying the same.
And in return, you get dryness. Clarity. Breath. A different version of yourself—one you’re not sure how to live with yet.
So when someone says,
“I want to grow, but it’s hard…”
They’re not lying.
They’re paying the cost of staying dry.
And if they’re not ready, they’ll walk back into the storm and tell themselves it’s just easier that way.
But the truth?
Staying soaked has a cost too. It’s just slower—and quieter—and usually more permanent.
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