Fate vs. Free Will..and eveything in between

For the skeptics, let me just say that I believe in both fate and free will. We all make conscious choices before we take action. Having said that, we are responsible for our own current situation but I also think that sometimes fate steps in and guides you.
You may call it that "gut feeling" of taking a left when you're supposed to go right. Be that as it may, the decisions that we make, or in this case, our free will, is applied to any outcome wherein a decision is made. However, is there something guiding each one of us towards our predestined fate? I think as human beings, we can manifest certain things for ourselves such as jobs we may desire or even the presence of certain people. The saying goes that we should shed our past to move forward in life. What happens when you regress? Is that part of free will? Or are any decisions that we consciously make, part of our subconscious minds which are already predetermined without us being aware? This applies to "going against the grain" in other words, taking action that should not have been taken and actually effecting the whole "divinity" thing because things you aren't meant to do can alter your life in negative ways.
A year ago, to the date, I was in NJ, my life as I knew it to be was in shambles, and I had no idea what to do next. The events that triggered my arrival in Albuquerque were eerily beyond my control, leading me to believe that there is somewhat of a chartered course that we unconsciously follow. When I left NJ, I was coming to New Mexico for 6 weeks. 6 Weeks turned into 6 months, and now I've been here a year and have grown in ways that I didn't know were possible. It's one thing to say that you're mature, but it's another thing entirely when you are physically removed from everything/everyone you've ever known and put in surroundings where the main attraction is the mountain that envelops Albuquerque like a beautiful blanket. Different, yes. Worth it, absolutely.
It was sink or swim time..and I believe I have swam. But I will say that even though I would have never thought that I would be here, I sure am glad that the master plan had this sketched on the blue print for me because being away from people and things that are familiar has been the best experience for me thus far. Isolation has taught me strength. Random people have showed me love, and the environment here has proven to me that God has a much bigger plan for us all than the daily dose of drama we each "suffer" from. It was my choice to come here, but it was fate that has kept me here, allowing me the luxury of learning about what I can offer life rather than being so caught up in my own bubble that I always wondered why life wasn't providing for me.
Another valuable tool I've acquired while in New Mexico is gratitude. Gratitude is a tool because the more you know how to give it, the more the blessings come into your life. I have come full circle in the year that I've been here, and I am thankful for both the bad and the good that I've endured on my journey because without past there is no present, and I am so very grateful to be in the present moment. So while it wasn't my choice to go through a devastating breakup, it was necessary for me to learn that I was better off without him in my life. It wasn't my choice to come to Albuquerque it chose me, and while I may have had the unconscious intuition to know I should stay here, it was fate that planted me here and allowed me to rehabilitate myself into the woman I am today.
One of life's other lessons teaches us that we should trust out gut. I have found this almost infallible. When I stepped off the plane into the New Mexico sky that summer night ayear ago, even though I was in such a "bad" place mentally, something deep within me assured me that I had found my new home. I mention this because prior to moving here, I was supposed to move to another state, and I had visited this aforementioned state numerous time and every time I got past state lines, I felt this overwhelming negative vibe making my mind question why anyone would ever want to live there? I know now what I was not enlightened enough to know then; I didn't belong there and my body was giving me all the necessary signals, I just made a conscious decision to ignore them. What happens when you ignore your gut? You get hurt, and you learn hard lessons that you don't always recover from. Thankfully, I have a strong core and through my transition I have even learned how to quiet myself and listen to that core. Now I would be lying if I said I lived by my core, but I'm aware that the key to happiness lies within each one of us, and awareness is the first step in growth.