Inner peace eludes many of us. We search for it, never realizing that it is right in front of us. The Yismach Moshe once dreamed that he was in Gan Eden. He entered a room that was very plain, completely devoid of ornamentation, and noticed a group of Torah scholars studying Torah. He was quite surprised that this was all there was to Gan Eden. Suddenly, a voice called out to him, “If you are under the impression that the scholars are in paradise – you are wrong. It is paradise that is within the Torah scholars.”
We are always searching for a touch of paradise. Look around at how many people spend their hard-earned money on exotic vacations. Although there is certainly nothing wrong with it, do they really find the tranquility and serenity they seek? True, for a few weeks they are relaxed and calm, but what happens as soon as they “land” and return to their daily lifestyle? To be truly free of all tension one must find inner-peace within himself.
The problem is that we often think that we are in charge of our destiny. Consequently, we are always nervous about what we can do to insure a positive result to our endeavor. The cure to this problem is, bitachon, trust in Hashem. When we are ready to begin trusting Hashem and believing that everything that He does is for our good, then we can achieve inner-peace and experience a little bit of Gan Eden in this world.
One of the leading causes of depression is a lack of material success. Earning a livelihood is a challenge which becomes magnified when one’s wife and children make unreasonable demands on the breadwinner to keep up with the Joneses. There is nothing like having one’s child wonder out loud why his father cannot be as financially successful as his neighbor. Families have to be supportive, not add to the challenge. A person must realize that his lot in life is decreed by Hashem for a purpose, a purpose that is inherently good for him. Horav Zushia, z.l., m’Annipole lived in abject poverty. He never complained. In fact, he accepted his circumstances with a smile. He was once asked, “How can you be sincere in reciting the brachah, blessing, of She’asah li kol tzarki, thanking the Almighty for granting all your needs, when, in fact, you are so much in need?”
Rav Zushia responded, “Hashem knows fully well what my needs are, better than I do. He knows that one of my needs is poverty. Who am I to argue?” It all reverts to the same idea. Do we trust Hashem to make the correct decision? Do we truthfully believe that what He does is for the best? As long as we think that success or failure in financial endeavors is in our hands, we will be dejected when our efforts do not prove successful. If we realize that what Hashem gives us is in our best interest, we can be happy even if we receive less than we have anticipated.
The cause of all this mistrust is man’s archenemy – the yetzer hara, evil-inclination. Horav Yaakov Yosef, z.l., m’Polnaah says, “In the past, the yetzer hara directed its efforts at preventing people from acquiring their share in the World to Come. Now, the yetzer hara is busy at work preventing people from having enjoyment from their earthly existence.” We have unprecedented opportunities to enjoy life; yet, we make ourselves miserable. Is that normal? We should be happy, but we are not. We do not realize that it is all the yetzer hara’s ploy. Instead of enticing us to sin, it sows discontent and depression within us. We should learn to reject depression the way we repel a sin. By acknowledging the source of our problem, we can learn to overcome its effect.
