Recalculating Life’s GPS: How Judaism and Psychology Teach Us to Reroute After Mistakes

One of the wonders of modern technology is the GPS navigation system, now installed in most vehicles. It is brilliant in design and endlessly helpful to humanity. A person leaves their home, types their destination into the device, and the GPS guides them with voice and visuals until they arrive exactly where they need to be. The systems even update in real time about traffic, congestion, or road closures. Without a doubt, this tool has saved people time, stress, and frustration.

Perhaps the most fascinating part of GPS technology is how it responds to human behavior when we don’t follow its instructions. Humans, after all, are proud creatures and we don’t like being told what to do. We think we know better. So when a tiny metallic voice tells us where to turn, sometimes we “cleverly” choose the opposite.

The GPS never takes offense. It doesn’t get angry. Even if you repeatedly ignore its directions, it does not give up on you. Instead, with calm consistency, it says: “Recalculating route.” In other words, “I was designed for you, dear driver. If you deviate, I’ll immediately chart a new way forward. You’ll waste fuel and time, and eventually you’ll arrive, but your pride will cost you.”

The GPS of Life: Judaism as a Roadmap

In Jewish thought, life itself comes with the ultimate navigation system: the Torah (literally meaning “instruction”). From the moment of birth, every person receives a spiritual “user’s manual” for living, complete with guidance, warnings, and encouragement. The Torah provides clear road signs: “And you shall warn them of the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the path they should walk in and the actions they should do” (Exodus 18:20). It also provides direction when things are unclear: “If a matter is too difficult for you… you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge that will be in those days, and they shall tell you the matter of judgment” (Deuteronomy 17:8–11).

To motivate wise choices, the Torah offers words of encouragement: “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life, so that you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). Similarly, the prophet Hosea teaches: “The ways of the Lord are straight; the righteous walk in them, but sinners stumble in them” (Hosea 14:10).

Still, life allows for detours. People may resist authority, ignore warnings, and choose crooked paths. Yet the Torah, like the GPS, includes a built-in recovery plan: “Even if you are scattered at the ends of the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back” (Deuteronomy 30:4).

Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschutz explains in his commentary Ahavat Yonatan that whether a person sins a little or much — even if they are “at the edge of the heavens” — God still provides a path of return. The Talmud (Pesachim 54a) adds that even before the world was created, two things were prepared: the Torah and teshuvah (repentance).

Similar to rerouting with GPS, there are conditions: first, stop. If you keep racing in the wrong direction, you will only lose more. Next, accept with humility the new instructions and “turn the wheel” back toward the right path.

The Psychology of Change: Why It’s So Hard to “Recalculate”

Repentance, or any meaningful change, makes sense logically, but is emotionally challenging. Human nature resists transformation. Our brains develop habits through repeated neural pathways, a process called synaptic conduction. When we repeat an action often enough, the brain reinforces those same neural circuits. Trying to act differently requires creating entirely new connections between neurons, which takes time, energy, and persistence.

For this reason, “all beginnings are difficult,” as the Midrash says (Yalkut Yitro). If a sin or bad habit has become ingrained, breaking it feels like rewiring the mind. But there are strategies:

1. Divine Assistance – The Talmud (Sanhedrin 90b) promises: “One who comes to purify himself is helped from Above.” We are not alone in the struggle.

2. Spiritual “Physiotherapy” – Like physical rehab, the first attempts at change feel painful and awkward. But with repetition, the “spiritual muscles” grow stronger, and the new behavior becomes easier.

3. Positive Neural Pathways – Once new habits are established, the brain itself begins to “assist” in keeping us on track. Old temptations will trigger resistance instead of attraction.

The Challenge of Willpower: “I Want To, But I Can’t”

Another common obstacle is despair: “I really want to change, but I just can’t. It’s too hard.” This mindset usually comes from a misunderstanding of what “wanting” truly means.

Wanting something means being willing to pay the price. A person who says, “I want to master an entire library of books overnight, but I also want to sleep eight hours,” doesn’t really want the mastery. Change requires effort, sacrifice, and persistence. There are no shortcuts.

As the sages teach: “Strength doesn’t come from willpower — it comes from desire.” True desire generates energy. If you want something deeply enough, you will find both the power and the joy to achieve it.

Like GPS, life always allows for recalculating. Mistakes don’t erase the destination, but rerouting takes humility, patience, and persistence. The sooner we turn the wheel, the sooner we stop wasting precious time and energy, and the more likely we are to arrive where we are truly meant to be.