Life is full of surprises

There is this difficult trade-off in life: either you try to never make plans and let everything come to you, but still feel you're not satisfied because there is no goal and aim and only random things happening. On the other hand it seems that, no matter what plan you make up, it is very likely to be crossed by some event that you couldn't possibly have imagined. And this unpreparedness can turn to incredible frustration. In these cases, however, it is lucky if you are able to find that this unthought of possibility opens up entirely new ways to you. It might not be enough to compensate for the loss of your plans though, at least initially. So what is the result of this? I just wonder, if the only way to get by is to make your choice and then see what life offers you and if things go differently to repeat the procedure?