Roger, on #5. Having to leave a cruel, inhumane environment that we’re accustomed to, is frightening. Uncertainty is overwhelming.

This would be true, even if we found out the odds are pretty good, that the other side would be a much better world. Familiarity breeds scaredy-cats.

Setting aside abusive personal relationships, take the example of a dead-end job that paid the bills for 15 years. There are better opportunities, but many of us will come up with excuses to avoid jumping out of our comfort zone: “Every job has its problems, no employer is perfect.” “You never know, the next company could be worse, and they might fire me before giving me a chance.” “If God wanted me to leave, he would push me out.” “I feel bad about leaving, they kept me employed for 15 years, I feel like I owe them some loyalty.” “There’s too many things to do at home, I don’t have the energy to learn something new.”

All of the reasons to remain where we are, when there is the prospect of infinitely more fulfilling opportunities elsewhere, are ad-hoc rationalizations that cover up our fear of the unknown.

As insensitive as life can be, it’s a good thing that life doesn’t care how afraid we are. Eventually, it’s going to kick us out of the nest.