When the pandemic arrived in 2020 and people began spending more time at home, many introverts reported to me that they were liking that they were no longer expected to venture out into the world as much because typically that was something they didn't enjoy as much as extroverts did in the first place. But at the same time, extroverts were telling me that they were pulling their hair out in frustration and biting at the bit to get out and go do the things they enjoy and that fill them up as well as energize them.
But as the pandemic situation began to improve, an interesting thing began to happen. Many extroverts, having been starved for the active life they prefer during the more "lock down" or "stay at home" portion of the pandemic, began to overload their plates with activities, while introverts had their own interesting change, in that having gotten the world's permission to be as isolated and recluse as they desired, were finding it a little hard to push themselves to get out a little more and get reacquainted with the world of people, events and activities.
We do know that the pandemic changed an enormous amount of things including where and how we work, how we shop, how we participate in activities, and even how we plan vacations and trips. So it's up to each one of us to stop for a moment and take a good inventory of how we think the pandemic affected us personally. Maybe there are some changes we find acceptable and want to keep, such as working at home, or having a new hybrid schedule at work that mixes some home and some office work. It's also possible that we might have really enjoyed grocery delivery or new ways of attending events that now have timed entrances and have reduced what was once a stressful way of attending.
However, we also need to look at ways we appropriately adapted in order to stay safe during the pandemic, but that now no longer serve us and may actually be leading to more stress. For instance, when it comes to our level of activity are we now gobbling up too many activities in fear of another pandemic shut down, or have we become a little too recluse and stopped interacting with the world entirely. This is where knowing yourself well is key because only you will know if what you are doing now is in excess of the person you were prior to the pandemic.
For those who are doing a little too much, the stress will show up in symptoms of exhaustion, body aches, lack of time to fit it all the things you want to do, and of course increased symptoms of anxiety such as a rise in blood pressure and heart rate, tight muscles, tight chest breathing, and even increased use of substances such as alcohol. For those who are isolating more than what their norm had been prior to the pandemic, the symptoms can result in depression, loneliness, lack of connection to others and to the world, and a growing anxiety each time you think of venturing out to be around others or participate in a few activities.
Taking the time to put a self-inventory together can help you see where you might need to nudge yourself just a little to either tone down activities in order to fit in some rest and self-nurturing, or if it's time to nudge yourself out the door for some light socializing, or at least activity that exposes you to other human beings, such as a hike at a local popular trail, or a trip to the zoo or museum in which you will interact with a few others.
It's okay that we've changed and adapted since the pandemic entered our lives, and it's okay that we've all found some new ways of living that we want to keep. But we also have to take a close look at how the pandemic has affected each one of us negatively and begin to sort through the ongoing adaptations we need to keep making in order to find balance with all of the ongoing changes.
"We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails" ~Dolly Pardon
Thanks to Glacier NPS for the great photo, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
