People in general fear change and the pain that comes along with it. That pain is actually a good thing that they don't realize.
Ding ding! We have a winner here. Nations are born and identified by and from pain. Individual identity is derived from hardship and pain. Take the US for example: born of the Revolutionary War: war, death, oppression, hunger, disease, hardship - all experienced before the birth of this nation. Civil War: Thousands upon thousands dead, massive rebuilding, families divided - end of slavery, and a reunited nation. The Great Depression: Economic hardship, joblessness, general misery. The World Wars. Pearl Harbor. 9/11. These are the events that gave the identity to the US.
Take a look at your own lives. More often than not, the events that happened in your life that makes up your identity and defines you come from painful and hard events. Some of these events are not always painful(well, not for all
), such as marriage and children, but are hard and challenging.