at first, that vulnerability is going to hurt. You can’t skip it. The only way out of it is through it.
This initial "pain period" he speaks of can be accurately described as vulnerability. You are vulnerable to pain at first, though that pain, looking back, was a bee sting - greatly feared before it is felt, but laughable afterward.
Once felt, you have an oportunity to learn an important lesson: Fear of pain is often more debilitating than the pain itself. Pain can often be endured, ignored, and pushed past; but in the face of a fear one refuses to face, the only option you leave yourself is to run away.
