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Obviously, people like change to some extent. The point of my OP was to question why some people can adapt better to negative changes than others. Nobody likes negative changes, but some of us might become emotionally unstable when such a change occurs, while others might be very quick to accept it and move on. It's that difference that is of interest to me. Neither person likes what happened, but one got mentally back to normal a whole lot faster than the other.
When it comes to major life changes, I have had so many and so many tragic life events that I have learned to go with the flow and put things in perspective. (Breaking a dish is not in the same category as losing a job, and losing a job is not in the same category as being your child has terminal cancer.) However, there are two things I simply cannot "adjust to":
The first is the many major changes in attitudes in U.S. society, in that what was considered wrong 20 years ago is now considered to be just fine. ( I am mostly speaking of issues of basic morality here and the idea that is is perfectly okay not to support oneself.) through working.
The second is all the rapid changes in electronic technology, meaning the fact that computers are replacing people (getting a live person to deal with a customer service issue is a frustrating battle!) and that electronics are replacing human-to-human interaction in general, to a very large degree.
Quarantine is maybe not the greatest example of how one's personality affects the ability to adapt. In the affected areas, people found themselves on two sides of a divide - one side was "just" stressed and inconvenienced, the other was beyond screwed. For example: people who can work from home, vs people who can't. Or, people who have school-aged kids, vs people who don't. People who can get unemployment if they lose their job (admittedly, after a looong wait) vs people who don't have a prayer of getting it for some reason. So where one falls on that spectrum has got to be a big factor in how one reacts to the situation.
In general though, I've noticed a funny thing in my family. I'm much more anxious then my husband. I think I spend a lot more time spinning my wheels about horrible things that have a very small chance of happening. In day-to-day life, it makes my life harder and more unpleasant than his. Sometimes it makes life harder for the rest of the family too, and he has to ground me and make me realize I'm over-reacting. But when something like this happens? I'm out the starting gate, preparing for the crisis, while he's still in blissful denial. Which just shows that it takes both kinds to make the world go round.
Change itself is just part of life. However those Rip Van Winkle moments when its like I just woke up after twenty year nap and whole world has changed abruptly. Those suck. Didnt really change so suddenly, just I wasnt paying attention I guess. Quite happy doing things way I always have and used to certain price structure, etc.
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