Boredom Leads to Excessive Hishtadlus
When a person finds himself facing a problem, he must first and foremost remember that “schemes and tactics” will not help him... and “all of the inhabitants of the world” cannot help him—only the Ribbono shel Olam can help!
But in addition to this, a person must occupy himself with positive and productive things. Whether learning and davening or by participating in matters that are conducive to society and the world—this will help the person avoid boredom and thus engage in excessive hishtadlus that he may be pulled to do.
Chazal tell us that boredom leads to sin—and similarly, boredom leads us to thoughts contrary to emunah and bitachon. Because when a person isn’t occupied, he remembers his problems and he’s more inclined to invest efforts to solve them. He’s bored, and so he sends messages to people to “remind” them, or he seeks other ways to address his problem.
Go to Work
The Ribbono shel Olam pleads with us: Go to work. You may recite Parashas HaMahn following davening and then think about your problems. Say some Tehillim that it be resolved. But afterwards, get busy. Don’t sit around drinking coffee—because if you’re not giving, you’re taking!
When we’re not productive, the mind goes to places that it shouldn’t... to thoughts about hishtadlus. “How can I get this? How can I arrange that?” And this isn’t good. We can see this in our own lives; when we’re busy and productive, we think less about our problems and how to resolve them—and then the Ribbono shel Olam brings the yeshuah to us.
Distraction, as we have mentioned, is an important avodah!
Don’t Marinate in Problems
This applies also to people who marinate in their problems—being obsessed with them under the pretense that they’re just searching for the balance between bitachon and hishtadlus. “Am I doing the right thing? Is my hishtadlus excessive?” Don’t sit around so much with these thoughts either. Do positive things. Learn, daven, do chessed.... Distract yourself from your needs.
The Gemara tells us that when we have a problem, we must distract ourselves from it. It’s unnecessary and unproductive to think obsessively about our problems. If we think about them, we will feel better. This is Chazal’s advice. But the truth is that it runs deeper: When we distract ourselves, we’ll become stronger ba’alei bitachon and ehrliche Yidden.
So long as we’re focused on the problem, we’re bitter and locked in—and obsessed with ways to extricate ourselves from the problem, because we’re so desperate to make it easier for ourselves. We’re so marinated in the problem that we are left with no choice! But the right thing is to let go of the problem and move on. The Ribbono shel Olam designed the world so that there’s always something productive for us to do. The yeshuah will always follow. Don’t obsess over the balance between bitachon and hishtadlus either. Sometimes, we pretend that we’re speaking philosophically... looking to do the right thing... but really, we just want to talk about the problem.
We must “plant”—making our first hishtadlus—and then move on. We must set aside all the philosophical questions for the time after the problem has been solved. Then we can think about the parameters of bitachon and hishtadlus all we want. For now, we must refocus and calmly expect Hashem’s blessings.
