PERSONALITY PREVAILS: CHARACTER IS LOST
Paving a path for generations to come
We are living in an age of personality driven cults. Trump is our leader, but not the only cult leader, by far. Social media is driven by the elevation of personality, performance, visibility and accessibility.
Personality is displayed through the ways we project ourselves in the world . The roles we play. The tasks we perform. The jobs we take and do. Relationships, marriage, child rearing, work are what we do and in turn what helps to shape us. Personality is not the enduring pattern we once thought of as being immutable. Traits may or may not remain relatively stable throughout a person’s life span. However, those are only the overt expressions of who we are. This is a truth that is lost to many. The more we identify ourselves by our external lives, the greater the chance we become lost to ourselves.
Character, on the other hand, is our essence. It’s the cluster of values and culmination of the moral, emotional choices we make. Character also includes the way we relate emotionally. Are we empathetic, resilient and curious? Stingy, self centered and angry?
Obviously, character is not always positive. We may be villainous, greedy, petty, etc. Shakespeare understood this better than many,
One way of considering character is to answer the question: What would I do if…? What actions and even risks am I willing to take? One’s character is what persists after the transient and superficial are stripped away.
Different cultures value different traits. For example, if one admires an item possessed by a Fijian, that person is more than likely to give you that item whether or not you need it or wish to have it. Acquisition of items or things is not a highly valued cultural, societal character trait. Generosity is.
If we are inundated with persistent corruption, deceit and violence wherever we turn, how can we develop a country consisting of moral good? If we have grown inured and accept temper tantrums, childish or bullying behavior, how do we educate the next generations that moral good is a worthy value? If we live in a culture where biblical quotes are used to validate a spectrum of beliefs ranging from revenge to forgiveness, where do we turn for guidance?
Life is filled with speed and noise. Finding the daily quiet space to check in with oneself and one’s own values is becoming more difficult than ever. Perhaps we need to teach mediation in schools or have periodic time-outs for self-reflection? The world is spinning faster than most humans can absorb. It takes courage to create and to curate a life that follows one’s own inner path. Do you have that courage?