Welcome to the Daily Chizuk. We said yesterday that if someone accepts the little afflictions in life with love, it could take the place of much greater afflictions. This knowledge could change our lives. The next time you're on your way somewhere and realize you forgot something at home and have to go back, tell Hashem, “Thank you for this little affliction. You're so kind.” You have to go back anyway, but now you're cashing in.
The Chovot HaLevavot writes in the Sha'ar Cheshbon HaNefesh that because the Jewish people in the desert complained about their afflictions, they didn't accomplish what they needed to accomplish, and they needed more. The Chazon Ish once said, “We all have to go through the trials of life.” Some people do it with a smile, and some people are bitter. It appears to me that the ones who do it with a smile have happier lives.
The next time you go to shul and someone's sitting in your seat, that's Yissurin, an affliction. You could say, “Who does that guy think he is sitting in my seat?” Or you could say, “Hashem, I know you directed him there. It's a small Yissurin,” and say, “Hashem, thank you for letting me get away with this little suffering. I'm going to accept it with love.” A person comes home at night and things aren't ready. It's a small Yissurin; accept it b'simcha (with joy). A woman burns the dinner. It's Yissurin, but accept it. Accept it with love; who knows what this accomplishes.
The key is to realize everything is Hashem; there are no accidents, even when it looks like an accident. Imagine a child spills a container of milk at the dinner table. People could get crazy: “What are you doing? You ruined the food, you wasted the milk.” Or you could say, “Hashem, I know it was you. Thank you for the small Yissurin.”
One time, a container of milk was spilled in Rabbi Yisrael Salanter's house. He calmly asked his wife, “What is Hashem trying to tell us?” And she said, “Ooh, I forgot to leave the money for the milkman last week.” It was Hashem talking directly to them. We might not be on the level to realize why each affliction is happening to us, but our job is to remain calm and know that this attitude of accepting b'simcha gives us the most mileage on the Yissurin.
If you lose $20 and accept it b'ahava (with love), now you don't need to lose $2,000. The mizmor (psalm) we read in Tehillim on Pesach ends with the words: The mizmor discussed people who had afflictions, got sick, were in jail, and were in dangerous situations. The rabbi from Belz explains: Who is a wise man and wants to guard himself from all these afflictions? Realize that everything in life is all the daily little nothings, all the little sufferings, and then you won't need the bigger sufferings. Then you won't need the harsher things. Have a great day.