I have to agree.
In some ways it may be hubris, but I do believe that on some spiritual level we do, or at least some of us do, choose this as part of our life's path.. even before the womb..
I love Joseph Cambell's views on the hero's journey. We all have things that are so great in our lives that to overcome them, face them and make them our own.. reshapes our very cores. This has helped to shape mine. We face challenges to our inner workings, our minds, our spirits, and our station in life unlike any other group on the planet, and yet we exist in all societies, and records show that we have been there in one form or another since antiquity. . And I think that by our very natures we probably delve more deeply of our own free wills into the dark and dank places of our minds and our selves than most sane people would ever wish to see.. and yet we, for the most part, keep our sanity..
We quest where others balk at the very concept.. not by choice, but by necessity.. and yet we do.
And in so doing are witness to concepts and things foreign to any but our own.
If it is a journey, it is a lonely one, but one made better with friends and fellow travelers.. (No.. not that kind..) and like most hero's journeys.. the path leads inevitably back to the self.
Just my observations..