Struggle and Surrender

For my entire life, I have been oscillating between two philosophies or approaches to life. They best can be summarized as struggle vs. surrender.

The first philosophy is one in which you identify a goal in life, something worthy of your time and effort. Something you truly believe in, either for your own good or that of others around you. It could be that you want to start a business, or gain success in a certain field. It could be that you want to achieve something in a sport or artistic field. As you go on the path toward that goal, you encounter a great deal of adversity—you must struggle against all sorts of obstacles to get to that goal, both external (people naysaying, people against you or competing against you, lack of time or resources), and internal (lack of patience, lack of ability, a constant testing of your fortitude). You are constantly looking forward, hoping for future happiness, forgoing the present unhappiness for the future goals achievement. But eventually, one hopes, you get closer to that goal, and therefore gain some degree of satisfaction in that struggle.

The second philosophy is one in which you acquiesce to the winds of fate and happenstance, and let your life be directed by whatever comes along. You might have certain aspirations, but you let fate decide many things in your life, and along the way you try to be happy, you try to be free in any way you can. You support yourself and those around you by being there with them. Often you might fall into groups of people that don’t necessarily align with your goals or your interests. Often, you find yourself compromising, drifting into strange jobs and occupations. Often you ask yourself, what am I doing here? How did I get here? But there’s a lot less struggle on a day-to day basis. You surrender your fate, and in doing so, attempt to live in the present and try to be happy with that.

The question in, which approach to life leads to more happiness--struggle or surrender?