UNDERSTANDING HUMAN BEHAVIOR: Why we hate change

      

Human beings are slugs.  

Yes.  I said it.  

Don't misunderstand me.  I'm not saying we're slimy, nasty, slithering gross things.

I'm referring to how much we hate change.  Any change.  

We are, quite literally, creatures of habit.  We’re slow to adapt to changes outside of our control.  We hesitate and rethink and overthink changes we know we need to make. We bitch and moan when we're forced to do something in a different way. 

We like to know that our days are pretty much laid out like they are on most days.  That when we get in the shower, deliciously warm water will come out.  When we get in the car, it will start.  When we get to work, the building is there, our co-workers are there, our tasks and responsibilities are what we expect them to be. 

Routine makes us feel safe, grounded, content. That all is right with the world.

Then, something or someone comes along and throws a big, honkin' wrench into the works. 

When our routines are challenged, the brain goes on auto-pilot and prepares us for flight, fight or freeze.  We get upset, anxious, worried, angry....all of those don't-feel-so-good emotions.  Our knee-jerk reaction to change is to desperately try to maintain the status-quo, no. matter. what.

For those of you old enough to remember, the catastrophe of 9/11 is a perfect example. Once that first plane hit the World Trade Center, no one felt safe. No one knew what the hell was going on. When we saw the plane wreckage in a field in Pennsylvania, no one could tell us FOR CERTAIN that another plane wouldn't crash in our neighborhoods. We put plastic on our windows in case of chemical terrorism.  We stayed home because that’s where we felt safest.  The whole world was changing, and we had no idea what the result would be like. 

Eventually, though, the ones responsible for destroying our sense of safety were identified and plans were put in place to remove any future threat.  People began to feel a little safer, communities banded together to rebuild a semblance of normalcy, and we got through.  But it took time.

COVID-19 is a different kind of terrorist.  We can't point at it and say "there's the source...let's go after it."  We don't really know who is carrying it.  We don't know whether we've been in contact with someone who's carrying it.  We're being asked to stay away from each other and try to keep some normalcy within the confines of our homes.  And no one REALLY knows how long this is going to last.

These changes no doubt have already caused a lot of upset, anxiety, anger...you name it.  The slugs in us HATE this.  We yearn to have things go back to "normal."

So here's the message:  Change isn't always a bad thing.  This new way of doing things during and after COVID could actually turn out to be...okay.  Maybe better than okay.  

David Bowie: eBay

Think about another time when something outside your control (like a relationship ending or getting fired from a job) forced you to change.  The change in your life eventually became the "new normal," and in hindsight, it probably turned out for the better.

It will be that way for us again, too.  We need to, in the words of David Bowie, turn and face the strain:  accept the changes necessary, ride out the uncertainties and scarcities, and make the best of what we're going through.  

We can do this.  I'm certain of it.