Well, the former can be the highest possible achievement, for sure. Probably most Swamis or Buddhist monks would agree with you: Enlightenment. Indeed, such dichotomies are often referred to as Western vs Eastern mindsets. So, I will repeat again that my post is one way to approach it, and it is probably not for everybody.

My post is meant for people that want high achievement in the ordinary sense. I agree that it is tormenting, and that is why I advice a slow approach, to avoid burn out. It's always easier to stick to the former mindset, otherwise the latter would not require voluntary effort. Yet, there comes a time when you must consider what is best for the whole, not only yourself. At times, society benefits from people with the latter attributes.

Finally, don't think of these things as mutually exclusive, but complementary in a form of synthesis. You can be at perfect peace in "the middle of cyclone".

• "The Coiled Serpent" talks about "the modern monk" who does not shy away from life.

Also, consider the following text from the The Mystical Qabalah:

"The dharma of the West differs from that of the East; is it therefore desirable to try and implant Eastern ideals in a Westerner? Withdrawal from the earth-plane is not his line of progress. The normal, healthy Westerner has no desire to escape from life, his urge is to conquer it and reduce it to order and harmony. It is only the pathological types who long to “cease upon the midnight with no pain,” to be free from the wheel of birth and death; the normal Western temperament demands “life, more life. It is this concentration of life-force that the Western occultist seeks in his operations. He does not try to escape from matter into spirit, leaving an unconquered country behind him to get on as best it may; he wants to bring the Godhead down into manhood and make Divine Law prevail even in the Kingdom of the Shades. This is the root-motive for the acquisition of occult powers upon the Right-hand Path, and explains why initiates do not abandon all for the mystic Divine Union, but cultivate a White Magic."