Wear It Well

Tanchuma (4) says עוֹז וְהָדָר לְבוּשָׁהּ, אֵלּוּ עַנְנֵי כָבוֹד שֶׁהָיוּ מַקִּיפִין אֶת הָאֹהֶל שֶׁלָּה.  What is the connection?  The ענני הכבוד that protected Klal Yisrael were clouds of glory, of beauty, but at the same time they protected Klal Yisrael.  They were both עוז and הדר.  Similarly, Sarah had such clouds because she was able to act with עוז or הדר as needed.  What is לבושה?  In Mishnas Rav Aharon volume 3 in a hesped for Rav Issur Zalman, Rav Aharon Kotler says that the middot are a mere levush, a garment that one takes on and off.  One must not get stuck in acting with a certain middah but instead be able to adapt the proper middah that the situation requires.  Of course ,this is a a lot easier said then done.  Also, is interesting because we would assume people have a natural tendency toward a certain middah as is reflective of their personality meaning it is part of their essence, not something that one can merely turn on and off.  This mussar approach assumes one can work in and out of different middot if one is in total control over all of their natural reactions.