Exactly, one cannot be surprised by their path if they are the ones making it. So, if your path surprised you, hop off it, and tromp out your own, no surprises that way 
Sorry, but I can't agree. I would say that if you're blazing your own trail through the forest, surprises are far more likely than if you follow an established path. You can be hacking your way through thick underbrush, and suddenly find yourself on the edge of a chasm..... That kind of thing doesn't happen if you follow the well-travelled road.
This is as true in the spiritual realm as it is in the mundane world. For many years I worked as a mining exploration geologist, mostly in the Yukon and Northern British Columbia; in some areas, the forest undergrowth is so dense that one can often find oneself walking on tangled branches several feet above ground level. On one occasion I was hacking my way through just such a dense tangle of vegetation, and I looked down.... into thin air. I was standing on underbrush, out over the edge of a cliff, with just a few flimsy-looking branches between me and a three hundred foot drop.
You don't get yourself into that kind of situation if you follow an established trail.
Alchymist.
