No purpose required. Enjoy your arms length. Make your space better, and if you can, make other people's space a little better. Life is simple, they just tell you it's complicated.

I have always been a loner. In my early teens I woudl just go, "away". Into nature, no other people, no manmade noises, and just be "me". Consider my relationship to the real/natural as opposed to manmade/artificial world. I still do that often. There is a place for me in the natural world, there really isn't in the man made world.

I had a kid. Since the moment he was born, my mission's been clear: keep child alive. Honestly, there are days he's the only reason I get up.

Personally, I've found that accomplishment provides a degree of meaning. Creativity, such as writing, making things, and do on, does the trick.

I have found great meaning in my life by rescuing stray cats; neutering them, and trying to find them good homes. I also volunteer at an animal shelter. I have grown to really love animals; they never let you down. Unconditional love.

I stopped trying to fit in a long time ago. Either accept me and my out landish ideas as I am or at least give me a good debate or move on.

I don't know that this helps, but it sort of works for me. Try to think of life as having no inherent purpose.

Your life only has the meaning you ascribe to it. If it makes you happy to contribute, your life's meaning could be curing cancer. If it makes you happy to enjoy your time on the couch, that was your purpose. To enjoy your life.

Some people will get this one. Buddha liked to use an example of a glass goblet for perspective. If you have a favorite glass goblet, you should always view it as "broken." If that goblet ever breaks, you won't be disappointed because you had no expectations that this would not happen. It was meant to be broken. It's fulfilled. That's the way it's supposed to be.

Seize the day. The rest is immaterial.

For me, the "meaning of life" has always been to find meaning. Finding that thing that makes your life worth living, and then living for it. The meaning that I have found personally has been raising and supporting my kids. Once they are grown and don't need me any more I'll have to find another meaning. Which will be my meaning until I do find another meaning.

Not sure if that made sense ? but apparently it had a lot of meaning ?

I accept the "place" I am at/in at any given moment and it is good enough for me.

I have never suffered from any kind of existential angst.
I'm here. That's good enough for me. Whatever my purpose may
be can change from day to day.
I think tomorrow's purpose will definitely be consuming as much coffee as I can within the first hour I'm awake. Then, I might do some laundry.
Keep it simple. Don't over complicate what doesn't need to be complicated at all.
Just be.

When we were hunter gatherer we had to watch for animals that would eat us. We looked everywhere to make sure it was safe. Some scientists believe that is why women have a hard time concentrating during sex. The male(stupid and unaware) is focused the female is looking around hoping to not be attracted in a vulnerable moment. We see faces in the dark turn on the light to find a garment of some kind because we are programmed to find it. We search for patterns because it makes us feel good to explain it. Religion helps us do that! We want an explanation we search for and we’ll except anything to make us feel better about our lives and it’s meaning. We are! And that should be enough but it’s not. Your place is where you want it to be. No one can make you happy. No one can find your place in this world. Only you can make you happy, sad, mad, or content. You are the decider of your world.

My purpose is simply comedic relief

If you do the things you love to do, you’ll develop talents and you might see voids in the world that you can fill beautifully with your talents and passion in that area. If you are living out of your true self, there is likely a need and appreciation for your exact talents, if you keep your eyes open for that niche and not settle or get distracted with becoming someone you don’t want to be.

I glibbly use this little one liner when I see this question: Always do what you love and you'll always love what you do. To look at this a mite more in depth, what it breaks down to is close to the Ikigai that silvereyes mentioned -- only with a slight twist. Here it is. I have done a lot of things that most people would say I couldn't possibly like and on a superficial level they would be right. And that is the twist to Ikigai.

I determined long ago that whatever I did I would do better than or at least as good as anyone else. If that happened to be digging a ditch for a footing, something I have done a lot of, it would be the straightest, most uniform, closest to the required slope of any ditch ever dug. Now, why? Why approach tasks like that? Simply because I could look with pride on what I had done and that translated to satisfaction and that allowed me to take away enjoyment from the effort.

So, what am I saying that relates to your question about finding purpose? It is that everything I have done or prepared to do was my purpose. Everything I do, whether it is work or getting along with people or eating a good din din becomes my purpose. Through this attitude of doing what I love and loving what I do, I have never suffered a purpose deficit.

There's no "higher purpose." Do you love your children because they might have a "higher purpose" or do you just love them for who they are? We are here to enjoy our lives. Or not. It's mostly up to us.

I wish I had an answer for you, but I am still struggling with this myself. I torment myself over it to no avail. I'd love to be one of those people who have a clear purpose in life.

I have struggled with this too. I read a lot of philosophy to help me with this. Included in that was observations with how human beings need a purpose which is why we invent religion. As a scientist I can think about needing purpose in terms of genetic survival. Probably the genes of people feeling a purpose have been favored. Life is hard and those feeling purpose are probably better at fighting for it. In reality there is no purpose and I have ultimately chosen to come to terms with that truth and live my life the way I want.

Your question implies you were "put here for a reason." This is not the case. You simply exist and you must define your own purpose, if you even want one. How about starting with your basic rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness? So just find your happiness. =]

I like the saying " The meaning of life is to find your gifts, the purpose of life is to share them."

It is my personal belief that everyone is on this planet for one major reason, although there are many other reasons this reason is paramount. TO LEARN, You got it, to me Life is one big gigantic classroom, You can learn things the easy way, or you can learn things the hard way, The way of the learning has always been your choice but you have to and will always be learning while you are here on this planet. We all learn in this life through experiences that we have, and mistakes that we make, but all in all that is the common denominator in all things. But you must remember this is my belief. Just thought I would try to answer your question.

My purpose for being is unconditional love. It begins when you feel it for yourself. That begins with self-talk. Eliminate "I can't", "I'm not" and "I'm not good at" from your vocabulary, replace them with the positive, and you'll be on your way.

This may or may not apply to your situation. Make sure not to let others define who we are suppose to be. We get caught up in that. I've gotten caught up in that. When we do that it usually leaves us lost, not sure who we are.

I don't have all the answers, but I think I can help here. I work as a flight attendant. When September 11th happened my world was turned upside down. I lost a friend on the first airplane. Won't go into details here, but I felt completely lost. On top of it I started having chest pains. Bad time for many. Went to many doctors, after a bunch of tests and opinions I was told to start volunteering. I did. It changed my life. The purpose in life is to help less fortunate. Incredible feeling. You forget about all your misfortunes when you do good for others.

I do too, or have, and likely will again.

One epiphany was to realize you have to ask the right question. We often ask "why" when there is no reasoning consciousness behind the event.

Now, if we are asking "why was I born" we can have a discussion. At some level your parents decided they liked each other, enough to have sex. However, that still may not have been 'reasoned' as in they went out for coffee, and discussed having sex, and the risk of having a child, over that coffee with a muffin or cookie on the side. Having come to a reasoned decision on taking said risk, they trotted off behind the cafe to make musical, reproductive, chemistry. Odds on they just had sex and didn't really think about the consequences.

That doesn't, or shouldn't diminish the act or the result. Not at all. I was dating a girl while I was in the military, stationed in KY. Mom was telling about how her mom dated a military man for a short time and she popped out and how terrible that was... She was one of the most intelligent, with it, wonderful and beautiful women I have ever had the pleasure of meeting (I was between her age and her daughters age... maybe I was closer to her age... I know, that sounds bad, and I will make my penance), I was no little bit interested in her (and glad that she moved away with her daughter, and sad that I hadn't met HER first). All I could think was: And someone as wonderful as you wouldn't be here!

Think about all sides of every question... BUT, I digress.

Some questions we can tackle thinking 'why' some need to be tackled thinking 'how' because the events really have no reason behind them at all. Such as the collision of two particles which create other particles to be expressed. This is a 'how' question, not a 'why' question despite the fact that they may well describe exactly how the big bang, the originan of our universe, was 'sparked.' A random event with absolutely no reasoning behind it.

So, if you are asking how you came about, you can tackle it as sperm meets egg and here I am and how wonderful is that? If you MUST put a why behind it: mom loved dad, and dad loved mom, even if briefly, and they felt safe enough with each other to make love and... here I am and how wonderful is that?

How did DInah say it: Accentuate the positive, decentuate the negative.