Choose Life

The story is told of two mice that fell into a barrel of milk. They could not get out, being that there was no solid place for them to stand and jump, or any surface that would afford them a foothold from which they could climb out. After several minutes of struggle, one of the mice saw that it was hopeless, and allowed himself to sink into the milk, thus ending his suffering. The other mouse also saw that it was hopeless, but felt that life was too great a gift to give up, even one moment prematurely. He kept swimming, "treading water" in the milk, postponing the inevitable, until....the milk turned to butter! Then he easily scampered out, and returned to his normal life, presumably wiser and happier.
Rabbi Nachman said "Wow, children! THERE IS NO GIVING UP!!!!" Every moment of life is so very precious. Even adversity can be a gift; a learning experience. But we need not resolve ourselves to the idea "this is my lot. There is no escape". The Talmud quotes King David as saying "Even if a sword is upon one's neck, don't refrain from prayer". We experience many "swords" in life.But G-d has the ability to take us out of the suffering; to turn the "milk" to "butter". We are called upon to "Choose life". We must live through adversity,finding meaning even there, until G-d brings us to a brighter day.