what is the cost?

Luke 14: 25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’
31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? 32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.
34 “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? 35 Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”

I have read verses 25-27 for years and not really understood it... today I have a little bit of clarity...
as He said "you must hate your father and mother and family" what He's really saying is that He has to have the #1 seat...
God has really been dealing with me to keep Him as #1 in my life.. and I think... what am I putting before Him? I have seriously told Him that anything that is my will and not His.. I hand it to Him... really, my own will would be so much easier than God's will... my own will doesn't cost me anything... but God's will costs me even myself... I guess that is His point... LOL! I think we put other people and other things before God without even realizing we have done it... and I think the more we mature spiritually.. the more He is telling us that He is first and He will not compete with anything at all... I am glad things don't go smoothly every day.. if they did.. I would be thinking I am the center of the universe again... when there are troubles and I have to cry out to God, then I know that I need Him more than anyone or anything else.. I can do NOTHING without Him...

He also warns us to count the cost... I remember when God gave me this vision and this purpose and He says to me... do you accept this call? and I say yes... then He says... be sure about it... before you answer.. you don't realize the cost... that sorta scared me... I remember when I had to have my kids' dad and God told me that he was not for me.. and I said I want him anyways.. and God tells me that I will have him, but it will come at a much higher cost than I realize... and He was SO RIGHT... so when I finally got away from that.. I tell God never again will I choose a man... never... of course I did choose a few short term men but ran at the slightest sight of commitment because I meant that "never again"... everything we do in life comes at a cost.. whether it be for self or for God... I guess I am realizing that if I have to pay for it either way.. I would rather pay for God's will than my own because I know that God's plan for me are for the good (Jer 29:11)... and my own may not work out that way... well.. really will NOT work out that way!