Every human is a tiny speck

As I go more through life, it's starting to sink in that every human is a tiny speck in the universe, and any accomplishment from small such as personal materialistic gain to a grand vision or grand structure is a slow and painful process. For the few humans who manage to rise above the norm, there is no doubt that the amount of success is directly proportion to the amount of efforts and sacrifices they had to make (of course I am fully aware that the other way around is not always true) Base on this observation, my question is : What is the ideal way to live life? Continue to spend my time on the slow and painful process with the hope to rise above one day? Or just appreciate the fact that at least I'm breathing. Simple question, but there are so many philosophical answers that can spin my head around and around.