“I had no choice”.
We’ve all said those words and ironically those words themselves were by our choosing.
A quick google shows that we make an astonishing, 35,000 decisions per day.
Clearly we all have choices. It’s our greatest Divine gift. The freedom to choose.
At times it can be pretty anxiety inducing. So many choices, so many decisions — so much upside, yet so much downside.
I recently read of former hostage Rom Braslavski describing his efforts to rehabilitate himself and to deal with the tremendous post trauma stress that he’s suffering from.
“My question is this: Am I going to return to life, or am I going to remain a captive in Gaza? Am I going to get up and strengthen myself again and again and not let them win, or am I going to lock myself in my room and not let the sun come in? Because if I do that, they’ve won—not me.”
“They’ve won—not me—if I fall into depression and sadness. That’s not something I’m willing to accept. Every day I make the choice to open the blinds, get up early, and let the sun into my life. To let the sun brighten my dark face. Dark on the inside, bright on the outside. And the light on the outside slowly seeps into my soul.”
Choice!
Divinely gifted! AI can not make a choice and decide the direction of our lives. It never will be able to — because choice is the greatest gift that we were given and that specifically requires personal grit, reflection and conviction!
With best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yehuda & Dina Kantor