Could be a bit of both. ;-)

GfS - You asked, "Do you think they would be afraid, if they connected to where they came from......before they entered into this life?"

No, I think in that case they would not be afraid...or they would at least be less afraid, depending on how attached they had become to the things in this life.

When people get very attached to other people or various things here, then they are most reluctant to leave. When they reach a point where they're not much attached to anything here any longer...or even tired of the whole scene...then they become far less reluctant to leave.

I see this a lot in old dogs and old people. They reach a point where "the thrill is gone" and they are fairly much inclined to just sleep most of the time (providing they have what they need). That is a passive and willing movement toward embracing death...whether or not it's consciously recognized as such.

People who say they "don't believe in fate" are expressing a form of very solid faith they have in a certain philosophy they hold about reality. How would I express that philosophy? Well, I guess it would be..."Everything is separate, and there's nothing going on here that doesn't proceed on that basis of separation." Would that be it? Or...? Hmmm. It's not an easy one to pin down in words. I think they're of the "what you see is what you get (and it's all you get)" school. That is, they look for the obvious...the physical...and they figure that that is all there is. It's a self-sustaining philosophy since its conditions of observation predetermine its conclusions and exclude any other possibility. Like a circle that completes itself.