I recall a Robert Frost poem that we learned in elementary school, whose title was "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening.” With Shabbat on the way away, and lots of shopping to do, I don’t have time to look it up. The end was something like, “Two paths diverged in a snowy wood. I took the one less traveled by, and that made all the difference.”
That could be the motto of our forefather, Avraham. He could have stayed in his father’s lucrative idol business and lived a comfortable life in Ur Kasdim, but he chose the path less traveled by, and that made all the difference, bringing about the foundation of the Jewish Nation in Eretz Yisrael.
Avraham could have said I’ll stay here and wait for Moshiach….
Avraham could have pretended that the idols in his father’s store were real gods, but instead he smashed them to pieces, and that made all the difference, bringing the knowledge of one G-d into the world.
Avraham could have turned his back on Lot when his life was endangered, but he risked his own life to save him, and that made all the difference, teaching the Jewish People that we are responsible to come to the aid of our brethren, even when they aren’t one-hundred percent glatt kosher.
Avraham could have refused to sacrifice his son, Yitzhak, but he immediately agreed to obey G-d’s command, and that made all the difference, giving strength to all of his offspring, in all of their generations, to sacrifice their lives for Hashem and the Torah.
Avraham didn’t choose the “good life” for himself, and that made all the difference.