Your Inner iPod

I sit ensconced in my seat, miniature speakers carefully inserted in my lobes. With the touch of a button, I'm transported wherever I wish to go.

One second, my heart strings are being tugged by a stirring melody. A moment later, my feet are tapping and my blood is racing to quick energetic beats. A flick of a finger, and I feel a trickle run down my cheek at a particularly poignant line of a sad song. Another flick, and my brain is stimulated by a recorded lecture, awed and inspired by a new insight.

With a touch of a button, I navigate a story, a class, an upbeat song or a wistful melody, select the mood of my choice, and I'm transported to a different place, time and zone.

(To be honest, it's only recently that I've mastered this magic device. Initially, my non-technical brain reacted with bafflement to the flat little box with the unfamiliar controls. But after a few hands-on coaching sessions with my eight-year-old son I got the hang of it, and soon enough, was i-poding like a pro.)

What a powerful device this is! No wonder these little gadgets are selling to the tune of tens of thousands a day.

Imagine if we each had a built-in dial in our own inner makeup. Imagine that with the mere touch of a button, we had such control of our psyche and personality…

Actually, we do.

Chassidic teachings assures us that, by our very nature, we possess the quality of moach shalit al halev--"the mind rules the heart." Unlike animals, whose behavior is dictated by instinctual responses, the human is, in essence, a rational being, capable of achieving full control over his thoughts and moods.

Using this "device" is not automatic--it requires a process of study and practice. But once we learn to use the high-tech gadget that is the human mind, we can get to a point where we are in control of our emotions, feelings and responses.

Happiness is a choice, not a condition. So is integrity, kindness, humility, graciousness and compassion, and, on the opposite extreme, useless feelings of envy, anger and depression.

Imagine being able to touch a button to turn off an angry outburst, or a lethargic, depressing mood. Imagine pressing a button to be surrounded by empowering happiness and constructive energy. Imagine having such a power of concentration, focus and control. Now imagine what a difference that would make in our personal growth and in our relationships.

We do have the device. We do have those buttons, and we even have the manual on how to use them--our Torah. All we have to do is learn it.

Now, maybe that's something for Apple to consider marketing.