Sometimes, you know, the first few chapters of our story is written, things come in a certain package, but we get to choose what the rest of the story is going to be like.

Hello, and welcome to spiritually hungry summer snack edition.

Yes.

You know, last summer you don't like snacks.

I guess we're back with snacks.

You keep saying snacks.

Snacks work.

I'm adaptable.

I'm flexible.

Who doesn't like a snack?

So today we're going to talk about, I think, something that people often confuse.

And I'll start with the story. So a few weeks back, we were in Europe and we had quite a bit of travel and we ended up on a boat with a friend.

And we took a little boat from his boat to get to the dock. And, you know, I'm super curious. I noticed that the man that was working there was a small village we were in, the man that runs the little boat had what looked like his son with him helping out. So I said, oh, is this your son? And he said, yes. And then his son started talking. And I was just so taken by his accent, quite confused because we were in Italy.

His father had a heavy, heavy Italian accent.

The son looked kind of like his father, but he had a very, very strong Australian accent.

I was confuzzled.

So I asked him, where do you go to school?

Is it something?

Is it like a local school and an international school? And he said, I go to school here. I said, oh, I said, well, then straightforward. I said, where do you get your accent from? He said, my mom is Australian. And I said, wow, what an interesting accent. And we got to talking. So I said, well, have you been to Australia? do you travel abroad? What are your plans? And he's graduating and shared. And it's like a short little ride. But he shared that he feels a lot of pressure at his age of 18 because he has to make a decision about his life. Like he loves the sea life. He loves the water like his father. But what does he want to do with his life? Because he, this decision will be the decision he makes for the rest of his life. And I was so confused by that. And I think that, you know, I think generally we have the conversations we have with people are more, they're more flexible. And I can make a choice. I can make a decision. I can change it. But he was so sure that it had to be absolute for him. So I said, you know, you can always change your mind. You might try something for a year or two years or three and then decide it's not for you. And you're young. Like you can change your mind many times throughout your lifetime. You have free will. So free will, he looked at me. And I said yes. And then our friend who actually studies Kabbalah, he said, well, let's talk about free will. He's like, do you really believe, what do you believe free will to be? And this is the topic of today. So let me ask you your definition before I finish the story. I don't know if I can get in a few seconds or even minutes, but I think it's the understanding that we get to direct our lives. and I think this is where the spiritual path of Kabbal is different maybe than other paths, and that it's not preordained.

I think on some level, the best of our life is set, meaning we're born.

The end goal is meant to be me in my best development as a person, spiritually,

physically and always, and at the highest level of fulfillment, joy.

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