Are you feeling overwhelmed?
Most of us are- at least some of the time.
With everything on your agenda, your heart rate probably went up just seeing how many words there are in this article. Before you rush off to juggle your other half-dozen multitasking pressures, stay with me a little longer. Stress is real and it would be helpful if we could achieve greater peace of mind.
Experts say between 60% and 75% of people feel unable to cope due to stress. We jam too much into our schedules, rushing from event to appointment to workout to coffee catchup. We may press snooze on our alarms, but once we’re up, we leap into turbo mode.
I don’t have to explain the dangers of chronic stress. We understand the problem, and it raises our stress levels. To better manage stress, we can learn from the man who found serenity when the world collapsed into chaos: Noah.
We all know the story of the Great Flood, the Ark and the animals coming two by two. The Flood story and stress have much in common. That’s why we use phrases like “I’m inundated”, “I’m drowning” or “I need to keep my head above water” when we feel overwhelmed. It’s no wonder we use water metaphors to describe stress considering the Torah’s template for stress management is the Flood story.
The raging waters that destroyed humanity represent the overwhelming flood of life. We often feel like our fast-paced, back-to-back schedules and multiple responsibilities may drown us. Ironically, the hero of the Biblical flood is called Noach, which means rest. He is a man of calm in a world of chaos. Noach teaches us how to find serenity in a tumultuous world.
Most of us believe that the only respite from life’s pressures is taking a timeout. If you want calm, spend a week in Nature, at a spa or a spiritual retreat. We don’t expect to be able to live calmly inside the storm. Sadly, our escapes are short-lived. One day back at the office, and the benefits of our vacation dissolve. How can we stay calm when every day is a pressure cooker?
The secret to finding serenity is not booking a year’s worth of getaways. Helpful as they will be, the key is not to escape the storm but to find serenity within it.
Noah’s year on the water was rough. Imagine caring for all those creatures on a lurching, crowded seacraft as the heavens thundered above and the Earth belched sulphur under them. The ark was hardly a Caribbean cruise. Yet, he remained Noach, the epitome of calm. Our sages teach that inside the Ark was as tranquil as the messianic age.
How did he do it? How did Noach generate serenity during history’s most turbulent chapter? The waters that wiped out the world lifted Noah and his crew above the highest mountains. His story illustrates a method to not only tread water but use the surge to carry us higher.
Noah’s Ark is called a “Teiva” in the original Hebrew. The Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Chassidic movement, points out that Teiva also means word. When G-d invites Noach, “Come, enter the Teiva” ” he is advising him on how to survive the Flood and teaching us how to avoid being inundated by stress.
We launch ourselves out of bed into the stress of the day. We don’t often pause to centre ourselves. We might pray each morning but are frequently rushed and distracted. The words of prayer should be a haven, a respite from the pressure and a chance to fortify ourselves for the day’s stresses.
To enter the Word is to immerse in meditative prayer and meaningful Torah study. If took a few minutes each morning to pray and study Torah with unwavering focus, we’d build a protective ark to carry us through life’s storms. But those few minutes require absolute focus- no phone; no kids; no worries about the next agenda item. Just us and the powerful words that link us to our souls and our Creator. A morning ritual of focused prayer and study empowers us to soar in the very storm we imagined would drown us.