“Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.”
-Henri Bergson

Personality and Character, what’s the difference and what does it matter?

For some of us, we will look back on this time, March/April 2020, globally, Covid-19, and remember how it was a life-changing period in our lives.

How it taught us various things about ourselves and others, depending on where we were in our lives.

For instance, some people perhaps were traveling and got ‘stuck’ in far off places, some were living on farms, some were living on luxury boats, some in shanty homes, and some in beautiful homes with beautiful gardens.

Who were you living with or got stuck with?  Now there’s the rub!  Relationships!

The thing about all this, which I have been observing in myself and others, is what it reveals of our personality and character in ourselves and in others, especially in the second half of the ‘lockdown’.  I’m sure there is lots of swinging from one to the other.  For example, a strong character person would only allow a short window for throwing his toys out the cot and then rapidly sorting things out.   Picking himself up and getting back on track.

Which led me to thinking about one’s character, either knuckling down and getting creative, or bringing out the worst of one’s personality and almost showing the behaviour of a 5 year old .

Do we get sucked in to the child, whether in ourselves or others, or do we just shrug and say “how interesting, what am I going to do about this, if anything?”

Are you one of those who loves to focus on the drama of the world event (because that’s what you’ve always done) and then re-create it at home or one who chooses to see how to make the best of everything with this new way of living?

In my opinion, here’s the thing.  Life is abnormally normal right now and its never going back to the normal we experienced pre 2020.  So those who are looking for  ‘when things are back to normal’ you will possibly always be living in limbo.

This ‘time’ we’re in now is VERY valuable and there’s no price tag on it. This is such a precious time to evaluate  our lives, being forced to knuckle down to SIT and STAY.  (Yes I love dog training :-))  This is all very good for mind discipline and to explore what’s going on up there.

For instance, if you’re an employed or unemployed person, having this lockdown at home, what are you doing with your time?   This is the ideal time to learn a new skill – and lots of learning avenues on the internet have unlocked their courses for free.

Anyway, this brings me to the subject of this post, Character  vs Personality.

Who is pushing who’s buttons and what are the character traits being revealed and the personality acting out?   Are you adulting (as the young generation say) or continually complaining and blaming?   If you have a core character of strength where you know what you want, are going after it then this time we’re in will be no different from any other time. However it may just be the extra time you need to knuckle down and focus on bringing your goals closer to you as there’s no need to rush off anywhere anytime soon.

I’ve noticed that people who are not ‘adulting’, thinking like a responsible citizen, are those who just want to satisfy their own whims and say “what’s the problem?” and behave as they want, in spite of the boundaries in place.  And if you were to read this, you wouldn’t even know if it was you behaving like that.

So I’ll close here and leave you with some things to contemplate.

Going forward, looking 5 years down the road, are there some changes that you need to do?   Your life is  your own to make happy, not for others to make it happen.  Being honest and truthful to yourself is essential and I highly recommend journaling and/or discussing with a loved or trusted one.   It will help you figure out what you really want to change and why, and where best to start.

What character trait have you noticed in yourself (or been told about) that you know you need to deal with?  Now start doing it.

Why do I suggest all this?

Because sometime, somewhere, if left unattended, these niggles become a real health challenge as well!