Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl drew upon his ordeal in a Nazi concentration camp in writing one of the most heralded self-help books of all time, “Man’s Search for Meaning”.

Oct. 7 survivor Eli Sharabi drew upon his ordeal as a captive of Hamas in writing the best-selling book in Israeli history, “Hostage”.

Published just four months after a gaunt Sharabi emerged from 491 days of captivity, Hostage” reached 100,000 copies in sales faster than any Hebrew-language book in history. But not because Sharabi sought to follow in Frankl’s footsteps as a self-help author.

Rather, I inferred from reading “Hostage” that Sharabi merely intended to raise the profile of Pidyon Shvuyim, the Torah mandate to free captives. By describing the horrific abuse and deprivation he suffered, he emphasizes the importance and urgency of freeing hostages.

That said, I found Sharabi’s book to be incredibly inspiring, even self-helpish, for two reasons. I hope he doesn’t mind if I share these two ideas with Alignment subscribers, because that’s what I’m about to do.

1. You always have a choice.

In “Hostage,” Sharabi recalls the moment when his captors moved him from a house to Gaza’s notorious underground tunnels. For good reason, he desperately wanted to stay above ground. Standing at the lip of a tunnel entrance, he thought about resisting, but he knew that he would be shot and killed if he didn’t comply. So down into the tunnels he went.

Even in that dire situation, Sharabi recognized that he was making a choice. In this case, a choice to survive another day.

In our own lives, in our own far-less-dire situations, we always have a choice, too.

This is an incredibly powerful idea, one that we can and, dare I say, should bring to mind several times a day.

For instance, when the alarm clock rings, you can turn it off and go back to sleep, or you can get your tuchus out of bed, put on your workout clothes, and get some exercise. You have a choice.

When you’re ordering or preparing food, you can stick to plants or you can consume animal products. You have a choice.

If you’re not already vegan, you don’t have to flip a switch and permanently forswear meat, eggs and dairy. Just focus on your next meal or snack, and make it vegan. Eventually, it will become a habit, and you won’t have to make a choice, especially if you’re in touch with the ethical basis for veganism.

It’s like that cartoon visual of an angel and a devil, perched on opposite shoulders and whispering into the person’s ears. Who are you going to listen to? You have a choice.

I just gave you two examples, two out of a possible zillion.

2. Appreciate the little things.

In the tunnels, Sharabi and his fellow captives were victims of extreme deprivation and cruel abuse. For purposes of this discussion, I’d like to focus on just the deprivation.

For over a year, Sharabi couldn’t go to the bathroom without asking for his captors’ permission. And the bathroom itself was disgusting.

He was kept in darkness, unable to look outside, never mind breathe fresh air.

Food was doled out to him in tiny amounts, pushing him close to starvation.

I could go on. It was horrible.

But while reading about this deprivation, I started to take note of the myriad of things I was taking for granted. Just to name a few:

• A clean bathroom.

• A hot shower.

• A variety and abundance of food.

• The presence of loved ones.

• A walk with my dog.

When our parents ordered us to finish our vegetables because there were starving children in Africa, they were on to something.

I’m considering re-reading “Hostage” every few years, just to give myself a jolt of gratitude for all the blessings – big and small – in my life.

So even if Sharabi is not Victor Frankl, I made the choice to read his book, and I’m grateful that I had the resources and time to do it.