Our brain structures predispose us to habit, and there’s a strong psychological component that reinforces this tendency. At a fundamental level, we recognize that the world is entirely out of our control. Things just happen and there’s nothing we can do about it.
But this sort of unfettered uncertainty is a terrifying prospect, and so we mentally build an illusion of control. We imagine that we can guide what will happen to us, within our own small sphere of existence. We find reassuring patterns and we fool ourselves into believing they are inviolable.
Change is uncomfortable because it forces us to temporarily recognize that our assumptions are wrong. We’re faced with the fact that we aren’t fully in control of our circumstances. In that moment, our carefully crafted defenses falter, and the fear and uncertainty return.