Consciousness and choice are not thrust on us the instant we emerge from the womb. Certainly, but not to the extent that an adult does. Indeed that is one of the problems of becoming an adult, learning the range and limits of those abilities, as well as all the other capabilities a human inherits. A tree is not very flexible. It cannot move, it is not conscious, it does not seem to make any choices, yet it lives its treeness successfully.
Humans are so flexible in comparison.
We can move, can know, can choose, can adapt. We are not frozen to our environment nor to our innate structure. However we cannot ignore the fact that we do have an innate structure that has been passed down to us from the beginning of time. Such an entity fits in with all the natural world of unconscious, partly conscious, and wholly conscious life that includes our human adaptability and learning capacities. The humanness should and can be used to enhance and focus what is native to us and all life.