Do you drown when the going gets tough?

Someone once told me a story. It went like this:

There are two mice, swimming in a bucket of cream. They try and try and try to get out.

One mouse decides to try but when the going gets rough, he decides to drown.

But the other mouse realizes if they try really hard, they can turn the cream into butter, and they can be free.

Which mouse would you rather be?

The problem with this story is that it never really does much for the second mouse to keep trying, because then it will be living alone. The other mouse is gone. So this second mouse is going to fight for something just to be alone? I don't know- something is wrong with this story. But the second mouse, doesn't want to drown either. This second mouse is a stubborn mouse. It can't give into the way of the first mouse. It can't give up on itself. For once you're dead, you're dead.

So what does the mouse do?

Does it drown, and give into the ways of the other mouse, lose it's life, dignity, and pride?

or

Does it live with no purpose, and no friends, just to prove it's selfish little point?

That's the question of life.