Ah what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to be human. I believe that the Tao, or God, or the Universal Is, has a plan for all of this. My role in each lifetime is to uncover a bit more of the plan and understand it. After many lifetimes I will eventually understand the whole plan. I will understand true love and I will return to the whole that is the Tao/God/Is.
Along the way however are tests and lessons. Some I have chosen for the ability they have to uncover more of the hidden plan. Some are put there for me, not of my choosing, for I do not yet see the whole plan.
The trick is relaxing and letting the current of your life carry you to, and then through the challenges. Fighting the current, trying to alter the path of your life builds karma, and ultimately is futile.
I have been going about my current challenge backwards. I have invested in the future I want, not, perhaps, the future I need. Instead I need to accept where the current is taking me. For in accepting it, embracing it, I will gain another piece of the truth.