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In continuation of the blog from last week, here is Part 2. We move on with Joseph’s life experiences in dealing with anxiety.
The story about one of many Joseph’s life experiences on anxiety was when he got stuck in a ditch without water. There was not water because it was unfilled. All he needed to do was find water to fill it, but it turns out that it is also full of filthy creatures like snakes and scorpions.
We can extract something from the story of Joseph, that when we continuously fill our mind with ill thoughts, just like the snakes in the story, we tend to forget the existence of water. The water translates into truth as in the term Torah (ein mayim ela Torah—the only water is that of Torah).
With the symbolism used, the snake represents the fear of beginning something new, because it hurts you. On the other hand, scorpion represents the failure to finish a task because of the poison it delivers at the end of its tail.
What we can learn from here is having an unfilled pit is impossible, so to speak, because our minds continuously have something in it. The Law of Physics states that Nature abhors a vacuum, and emptiness will draw something which is not good. You need to input positive thoughts so that it will eradicate negative thoughts.
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Third And Last Stage:
Expressing Anxiety
You have come to this point, meaning you have succeeded to utilize the two previous steps.
Da’agah belev ish, yesichenah. This statement tells us that it is good to express your worries into words, and it will attract positive vibes. You will never know the extreme power of verbalizing.
Thankfully, our modern times, it is now generally accepted to seek professional help, and there is no need to be shy about because it is now a norm. “If your anxiety is particularly distressing or you believe you have patterns of anxiety that resemble one or more of the anxiety disorders, it would be sensible to seek professional help,” Graham C.L. Davey Ph.D. advised.
In life, it is a great relief if we have people that we look up to and we run into in times of need and help. Knowing that you have someone you can talk to, Torah emphasizes someone you can open up to about anything in your life. We all need our very own “mashipa” or someone wiser to provide us help and support. According to Suzanne Degges-White Ph.D., “Researchers have also found that when someone shares positive words with us, it generates feelings of familiarity.
The manner of seeking help does not matter. Some may use cash for it like therapy, and there is no problem with that. If the giver does not exceed his or her limitation to the point of being godly, then it should be fine.
When we broadcast our feelings to a reliable person, we subject our feelings to a source of hope.
A practice in Israel that whenever there is a suicide occurrence, supposed to be, the immediate family will be the only visitors but somehow other affected people of the tragedy joins in to provide comfort. This is to offer sympathy, to enunciate justice to the statement “I know what it feels to be in your shoes.” They will provide the exact emotional support you need.
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“Creating a thinking model that places the outcome within your control allows you to manage the situation. Taking even baby steps can lead the way to constructive solutions, rather than feeling overwhelmed, defeated, and stuck,” Abigail Brenner M.D. explains. To conclude, one can utilize this 3-step process. First, holding back your feelings of anxiety will lessen the impact of it. Second, dissociating ourselves from the worries. Lastly, with all your powers, we need to learn about expressing ourselves to those who can guide us through. That is the application of Torah in our life in dealing with our anxieties.