I define bitachon as trusting that things will turn out the way they are meant to be — not necessarily the way we want or even expect. We have so little control over our lives that we need to do our best with what we do have control of, then trust that God will do his part to make things turn out as they are meant to be. Then we can be joyful with however things turn out.
There are varying interpretations of bitachon and yours, Debbie, fits within the range. The important point that you make that I would underline: in reality, we have little control over our lives. We believe we do, we act as if we do, sometimes that belief gets validated, but the truth is, someone might run a stoplight, a storm might hit, the package might not arrive in time, someone unexpected showed up …. Trust is warranted.
I don’t think of resignation being the same as acceptance. Resignation is fatalistic and suggests that the situation can’t be rectified. Acceptance, on the other hand, is just realistic about how things are right now, and there is no connotation that change is impossible. I accept the present reality and might well be motivated to change it.
I define bitachon as trusting that things will turn out the way they are meant to be — not necessarily the way we want or even expect. We have so little control over our lives that we need to do our best with what we do have control of, then trust that God will do his part to make things turn out as they are meant to be. Then we can be joyful with however things turn out.
There are varying interpretations of bitachon and yours, Debbie, fits within the range. The important point that you make that I would underline: in reality, we have little control over our lives. We believe we do, we act as if we do, sometimes that belief gets validated, but the truth is, someone might run a stoplight, a storm might hit, the package might not arrive in time, someone unexpected showed up …. Trust is warranted.
I am a very slow processor and so I don’t have an answer to your question. Instead, I have a question is resignation the same as acceptance?
I don’t think of resignation being the same as acceptance. Resignation is fatalistic and suggests that the situation can’t be rectified. Acceptance, on the other hand, is just realistic about how things are right now, and there is no connotation that change is impossible. I accept the present reality and might well be motivated to change it.