The Rebbe comments1 that the single dot’s placement in three different positions to form three different vowels—chirik, beneath the letter; milupim, in the middle; and finally cholam, on the top—reflects three different levels in a person’s service to G‑d. While it’s true that the letters of the alef-beis (in a Torah scroll) are preor­dained by G‑d, it is up to us as individuals where we position the dot.

Though much has been predeter­mined in Heaven, it is in our power to wallow at the bottom level, to live a life of mediocrity in the middle, or to ascend, rising all the way to the top of our potential and our relation­ship with G‑d. We have the free choice to decide how to live our life and what to make of it.