Even after learning the yesod that bitachon brings us serenity because a person can stay in place calmly, not having to run or pursue anything—we must still keep in mind that bitachon has very many levels, and we can always grow in attaining more menuchas hanefesh without limit! Bitachon gives us a deep feeling—in any situation with which we are faced—that we don’t need to run and pursue. I can stand calmly, and everything will come to me. It’s impossible that I will lose anything, because if it’s meant to come to me, it will. Of course, if we have ascertained that it’s the will of Hashem that we take certain actions, that would not be considered pursuit, for this is what we must do. But the ba’al bitachon remains calm in every situation.
Serenity has so many levels, and it encompasses all sorts of situations. There is no limit to how much menuchas hanefesh a person can amass in his heart! Thus, we must always examine ourselves to see what we may be missing in this area. In which crevice of my heart did I not yet attain menuchas hanefesh? Which area of my life still irks me and robs me of my peace of mind?
Insert Serenity into Your Complex Problems
Usually, people distract themselves from a problem that aggravates them... they don’t think about it. And this is a good thing. If it is not good to think about it, it is best to distract oneself from it. But the truth is that even in irksome and aggravating matters, one can insert menuchah and serenity! A person can work out his mindset and thought process to feel emunah instead of hopelessness and aggravation. A person can merit menuchas hanefesh in those areas of the heart as well!
Everyone has weaknesses. We are made of flesh and blood, after all, and there are things that will bother us. One person has it with one issue, and another person has it with ten issues. With some people, it is obvious that they’re carrying around the load, and by others less so... but everyone has sensitive areas that rob them of their peace of mind. But true meunchas hanefesh means that he cannot be robbed of peace of mind. You can’t do anything to such a person, because his answer for everything is to have even more bitachon.
Ensuring That Nothing Takes Away Our Serenity
A person who becomes disoriented by certain life events does so for one of two reasons:
- He hasn’t yet worked out his bitachon enough to bring menuchas hanefesh to that area of his life.
- He has worked on his bitachon, but it has been a while since he dealt with it, and he was caught by surprise by events... unprepared. Someone told him something that really touched a sensitive area, and although he has already worked on his bitachon in the past, he was caught unprepared. And this caused him to lose his meunchas hanefesh.
But the task of a Yid is to work out every area of his life with bitachon... that nothing and no one should be able to rob him of menuchas hanefesh.
Freeing Ourselves of Guilt
It isn’t always easy. Sometimes we feel that a person wronged us terribly and caused us to lose a great deal of money. Sometimes we feel that we have wronged ourselves... we did something foolish, and we caused ourselves much harm. One says, “I have destroyed my life with my own hands! It is so difficult to say that it’s bashert.... I made a very foolish mistake, and now I am paying for it.... I can never forgive myself for what I did.”
There are many situations of heartache in which a person feels this way—but there is always room to bring the spirit of Shabbos Kodesh into it! In every situation, we can adopt the attitude of מלאכתך כל כאילו עשויה, all our work has been done. A person will ask; “How can I calm myself... I have caused so much damage with my own two hands.” But he must know that he can attain menuchas hanefesh if he will not relent, will not give in to these forces that pull him down... and if he will go on the right path, he will attain serenity even in these situations.
“But,” one will say, “this is not a matter of bitachon. This is something else... I did this....” NO! This is wrong! The Chovos HaLevavos tells us otherwise... that every single pain has the remedy and solution of bitachon and true serenity. One must only believe it: every single thing that bothers and irks us can be calmed with serenity that is rooted in bitachon. There are no exceptions to this rule.
No Exceptions to Bitachon
If there were exceptions to this rule, then the Chovos HaLevavos would not have written that the ba’al bitachon always has serenity and peace of mind. It must be that השם על והתענג applies always and to every life situation!
Just as we understand that the serenity of Shabbos—the attitude of כל עשויה מלאכתך—doesn’t have exceptions... we are serene on Shabbos even if such and such happens—so too is the serenity of bitachon universal; it applies and is relevant to every situation we will ever face. We must only study it, work on it, and acquire it.
The Healthiness That Comes with Bitachon
We have previously mentioned the words of the Rambam, who taught us that when a person is a ba’al bitachon, he has a healthy nefesh, whereas someone who isn’t worked out in his bitachon will suffer ills of the nefesh such as kinah, ta’avah, and the pursuit of kavod.
All these ills befall a person when he doesn’t have complete serenity and menuchah. After a person internalizes that the Ribbono shel Olam has the solution to every ache and pain, then he becomes calm, serene, and healthy in his nefesh. He believes that even when he endures a complex problem that no one else can understand, the Ribbono shel Olam can and does understand! The Aibishter created the Torah, which has the solution of serenity for all our problems, and all the problems that have ever existed since the Creation of the world!
And when we internalize this, then we are prepared to work mightily to acquire the middah of bitachon in its entirety, because we know that it pays! If we have bitachon, we attain a blissful life of menuchas hanefesh... so it’s worthwhile to work on it, as we learned previously from the Sforno (Yisasschar saw that serenity is good, and so he was prepared to toil for it).
There Is a Solution of Serenity for Every Problem
There are tens of thousands of people who walk around in utter despair about a certain aspect of their lives. They’re convinced that theirs is a problem that has no solution. They speak along the lines of, “We have to move on with life... we can’t get downhearted... we can’t just lie in bed... we need to get up and move forward....”
But this is not the truth. We don’t need to settle for simply “moving on.” The Torah has a solution and menuchas hanfesh even for this problem that you’re convinced has no solution! You only need to believe and daven to Hashem to lead you to the solution that the Torah has for you.
Speak with Others to Find the Torah’s Solution
To this end, we have spoken in the past about the concept איש בלב דאגה ישיחנה, when a person has a worry, he should speak about it with others who will help him find the Torah’s solution and the ultimate serenity that it offers.
Just as when it comes to learning Torah, it is the often the ratzon Hashem that we should learn together with another person in order to attain clarity, so too—in order to achieve menuchas hanefesh that is often lacking—we must often “learn it” with a chavrusa, a good friend, mentor, or expert who will help us reach the clear solution and serenity that the Torah offers us. By talking it out with another person, we gain clarity in how to attain menuchas hanefesh even for a problem that we have previously despaired of resolving.
This is certain: We should never seek to escape the situation. We should never close the door of hope that we will attain menuchas hanefesh—we must know that we can achieve ultimate serenity.
There’s No Concept of “It’s Bashert to Suffer a Lack of Serenity”
One may say, “Perhaps it’s bashert for me to suffer from a lack of peace of mind.” The answer is no! There is no such thing that it’s bashert for a Yid to suffer from a lack of serenity! Again: There is no such thing that a person is meant to suffer from a lack of menuchas hanefesh. It’s like saying that it’s bashert that a Yid shouldn’t have any connection to Torah... there is no such thing. Every single person can attain complete serenity in all of his affairs.
The Torah was given to every Yid. In the Torah we learn that when a person fulfills the לסבול שכמו ויט (i.e., he is willing to submit to the hard work of bitachon), then he will acquire serenity and menuchas hanefesh. One must only search for it and seek it out—and not alone, but together with the Ribbono shel Olam.
We must not relent in our search. We must daven for it, over and over—until the Ribbono shel Olam will help us find the path to serenity and menuchas hanefesh. We should never cease in our toil for bitachon, and the Ribbono shel Olam will surely help us!
