Wonderful reflections! I can only speak from my experience: I think I've ignored inner development/Dharma for many, many lives. My "karma" finally caught up with me in this lifetime. And if I could do things differently, I'd have been more moderate, for all those past eons.... the pain of ripping a bandaid off when you have no prior training is worse than ripping it off having practiced in tiny amounts, even while within the Ignorance.

Also, it is said (by Shantideva, I think) that the pain and effort involved in awakening is only one millionth of what we normally go through in a worldly sense. Something to ponder!