The Never-Ending Pandemic is Messing with Our Personalities

We have deep attachments to our personalities. If you are an optimistic, outgoing person, or if you are quiet and introverted, that is essentially who you are, regardless of what life throws your way.

We are so attached to our personalities that we will seek out whatever reinforces them, whether through our choice of friends or activities.

The never-ending pandemic has made it hard to seek anything out. It dominates our lives. It has been a bust for the optimist and a boon for the introvert.

Those who thrive on socializing and on optimism are exhausted by restrictions that never seem to go away. Those who enjoy privacy and quiet are having a much easier time dealing with isolation and quarantines.

In many ways, we’ve basically lost control of our lives. We’re all caught up in a wild storm, riding the waves in our own boats. The longer we go, the more anxious we get, but the more resilient we become.

With this new Delta outbreak, however, I have a feeling many of us are losing patience even with resiliency. We’ve had it with silver linings. Now we’re experiencing this weird mixture of melancholy and anger. We’re sad that our lives are still up in the air, and angry at anyone we believe are making things worse.

With this new Delta outbreak, I have a feeling many of us are losing patience even with resiliency. We’ve had it with silver linings. Now we’re experiencing this weird mixture of melancholy and anger.

We’re on edge. Our nerves are fraying. This makes us vulnerable and judgmental.

It’s tempting to cope by giving all this a divine spin, as if God is throwing us all a test. I can’t read God’s mind, so I don’t know.

I do think it is a test of our personalities. If we are incorrigible optimists who see everything in a positive light, we’re tested to recognize the darkness of the times. If we are born pessimists with a keen eye for bad news, we’re tested to consider how we might break out of that darkness.

There’s never been a time like this. The pandemic has shattered the comfortable patterns of our lives. In this fragile state, we have the opportunity to loosen our attachments to, yes, our personalities.

Instead of making decisions based on who we are, we can make them based on what is needed.

Instead of making decisions based on who we are, we can make them based on what is needed. If you don’t feel like doing something that may be useful because it’s not “who you are,” maybe do it anyway.

This storm we’re in is so new, we have a chance to see things in new ways and do some truly new things, even if it doesn’t perfectly align with our natures.

Shabbat shalom.