Secret Agendas

What role does a secret agenda play in storytelling?  I've felt my stories pulling in two directions- the story's undertow and my own sense of direction.  What do I mean by secret agendas?  Simple ones such as I like my heroines to rescue themselves.  I want them powerful enough to take care of themselves.  Then the more subtle messages, how people with differences are treated.  And playing with the master narrative, where, traditionally, a hero surmounts barriers to achieve a internal and external goal.  I learned about an alternative narrative, the so-called female narrative where goals are achieved through unions (classic happily ever after tales).  I have questions about how we resist that narrative, yet perhaps need it. Overthinking?  Yes indeed.

What if I let go?  What if I don't agree with a story, with a character's choices, with the message left behind?  Am I the navigator or a passenger along for the ride?

Sounds like fun.  Perhaps I will let go.  Perhaps the story will fly.  Rescues and all :)