I don't believe that our lives is mapped out from beginning to end in advance as in determinism, but I am inclined to believe that we are a product of randomness in the universe, environment, and in our minds. For example, currently I am depressed, and I cannot be optimistic by choice no matter how badly I want to be. I am depressed because I am alone and lonely. I am alone and lonely because I cannot connect with people. I cannot connect with people because I have social anxiety. I have social anxiety because of some trauma in my childhood with genetic disposition to it. My state of mind and my current situation dictates this outlook. How we react to what happens to us is also influenced by randomness. The best we can do maybe just accept what happens. We can try to improve, but the path is not guaranteed. Take for example successful people. To me, these are the exception, because we don't hear about all those who died trying to succeed because they never made it, and almost no one writes about their failures. It's like life itself. Living is the exception, and extinction is the rule, as Carl Sagan said. It's nice to believe we can do something about our lives, but I wonder if this is just an illusion for hope.