Round and round and round

Is there a beginning and an end? Or does it all just go around and around, cycles, the merry-go-round of existence? Without up, there would be no down. No heaven, no hell. Balance - happy mediums. What makes it all worth while? The short periods of happiness? Do I deserve to be up when there are so many that are down? Again I am struggling to find the good to look for. Is it easier to play "poor me"?