When Life Feels Overwhelming: Finding Small Openings of Light in Times of Pain

Have you ever felt like everything was crashing down on you all at once?

A test goes badly. Friends are upset with you. Pressure builds from every direction. And suddenly there is that crushing feeling that the whole world is closing in on you, and there is no room left to breathe.

As one teaching puts it: “Sometimes a person’s mind becomes confused during suffering and pain… and it feels as though the entire world has collapsed upon him.”

In moments like these, it can feel as though there is no hope at all.

The Danger of Sinking Into Pain

In truth, the most dangerous thing is not always the problems themselves. Sometimes it is the pain consuming us from within.

When we sink too deeply into sorrow, the sorrow begins pulling us even further inward. As the sages taught: “Whoever is drawn after his pain, the pain continues drawing after him.”

Pain has a way of expanding when it becomes the only thing we can see.

Looking for the Small Opening of Light

What would happen if, even for one moment, we managed to lift our heads?

We might discover that not everything is completely dark. Somewhere there is a tiny opening of light. A small space. A crack in the heaviness.

It is incredibly important to search for that opening.

Sometimes it means remembering good moments from the past. Sometimes it means stopping for a second and appreciating something small:

• A song that touches the heart

• A beautiful sunset

• A kind word

• One quiet moment of relief

It is worth searching for even one thing to be grateful for.

Creating Space Between the Struggles

The moment we find that small opening and acknowledge it, we begin stepping out of the sadness.

Maybe not instantly, and certainly not in one second, but it becomes the beginning.

In this week’s Torah portion, Jacob says: “Place a space between one flock and another.”

We can do the same within our own lives. We can create small spaces, small cracks of light, between all the pressures and struggles we carry. We can give pain its place without allowing it to completely take over.

Speaking Honestly to God

From that small opening, and that little expansion inside the heart, we slowly regain the ability to speak to God.

To tell Him honestly what we are going through. To speak about the fear, the exhaustion, the confusion, and the sadness.

Little by little, we begin emerging from the darkness.

Sometimes healing begins simply from the fact that we were finally able to speak openly to God and place everything before Him.

The Beginning of Hope

As the teaching concludes: “He will ultimately be saved from all troubles through God’s kindness and wonders.”

Sometimes all it takes is finding one small opening of light and refusing to let the darkness close completely around us.