Joseph Campbell once said that we cannot have a resurrection without a crucifixion.

Think about that for a moment.

If you want to be “resurrected” into the next, best version of yourself, you must first DIE to the current version.

And, last time I checked, crucifixions are painful.

It’s especially hard to nail (!) yourself up to your own cross.

But, alas, that’s what we MUST do if we want to live heroically. Brian Johnson writes that we must be willing to leave the land of the familiar (aka our comfort zone) and re-enter the forest of the unknown right at the darkest point (aka our discomfort zone) — letting go of the life we had planned for ourselves so we can create the life that is destined for us.

Campbell also tells us that the great life is one hero’s journey after another. Therefore, we must be willing to go through that process of dying to the old and being born into the new AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN.

Good news is that we get a little more graceful each time with go through the cycle. And, yet, the process is still always a little harrowing. As Campbell says, “There is no security in following the call to adventure.”