What are you supposed to do with your life? Simply surviving doesn't seem to be enough. Just being comfortable, "having" things, status, power isn't fulfilling either. There gotta be something beyond all of that. Ha! You see? Here we have it already: something "beyond"! So, can we look at this question without getting too airy-fairy? Is it possible to deal with this topic without resorting to mystical magic?

I say: Why not!

Take any kind of car you can think of. It's purpose, most likely is some kind of providing transportation. It is most likely not peeling potatoes, or cutting hair, or anything else. No matter what kind of car it is, it's particular purpose is some form of the thing that all cars do. Maybe that is a good way to find your own purpose, too? First look into the purpose of our species...

Here's another analogy: What do cats do? They catch and eat other animals. The impact of their species' action is to keep a lid on the population of these other animals. We say, this is their purpose. What do trees do? They take CO2 out of the atmosphere and convert it into oxygen. The impact of their action is a counter-balance to the CO2 produced by animals, fires and so on.

You can try this with any other type of thing in this world. We usually infer their purpose from what they do.

So how about humans? What do we do as a species?

(yes, here comes my favorite virus story from the chapter "The two tasks humans can accomplish in this world" of the book "YOU are the change"!)

Just because Harry Belafonte makes beautiful music, doesn't mean you have to do the same. Nor does it mean you have no purpose, just because you can't sing well. The lion in Africa is catching gazelles. I am sure you don't expect your cat Cleo to do the same - even though your apartment sometimes might look like she did. However, if you have some 4-legged tenants of the rodent species move in, I am sure, you'd appreciate Cleo to weigh in on their residency idea.

So, summarizing all the above observations and conclusions and adding to it, here's my advise to you, to send you off on your quest to find and fulfill your purpose:

You are to cause some sort of change, to make a difference in this world (not just other peoples lives, but in the creation as a whole!)

Look at what your talents are, your special skills and experiences. What makes you different from all other persons? A lion was built to catch large animals, a house cat to catch small ones. If you want to be successful, find what the Universe had in mind when it created you the way you are, and shaped you to who and what you are through all the experiences you went through and all the people you met in your life.

Observe yourself to find out what you are passionate about. Every person has a topic or two that "gets her/him moving". When it comes to this topic, there's an energy coming from inside, that enables you to keep going when otherwise you'd be too exhausted or too frustrated, that gives you the courage to tackle what otherwise you'd be too afraid to do.

I once had an old cat, who could hardly move anymore from all the arthritis. Well, one day we both noticed a mouse. That old cat was flying through the room after that mouse, as if she never had arthritis in her life!

Your passion can do that to you, too. Find it, and you find your purpose plus the energy to really enjoy your life!

Try to remember in what kind of situations you find yourself a lot.

Well, if you find yourself in first grade of primary school again for the fifth year, maybe you ain't getting the reading and writing thing. There are things we need to learn, and as long as we are not getting it, we get to repeat the same lesson over and over again.

However, if you know how to read and write, but find yourself in the first grade a lot, maybe you are the teacher. Maybe it is your task, your purpose to cause change in that classroom.

Ok, so now you gotta figure out whether your being married to the fifth jerk is a lesson or your purpose. Well, thankfully, there is always something you can learn, even when you're the teacher. And somebody else is learning something through you, even though you are being taught.

I find, though, being alert about what the lesson might be in any given situation, it helps me learn it faster and with fewer painful repetitions. In the same vein, by being more mindful about what kind of difference I could make in any given situation, I am a more effective change-agent.

I find, keeping these four simple points in mind, I am able to find and finetune my life's purpose quite well. Also, it helps me live my life to the fullest, making the most of every day, every hour. It helps me to be in a perpatuate state of happiness and content. And when a crisis hit, it is easier for me to deal with it.

There's one thing, though, I want to be very clear about: I believe

Happy pondering, searching, and practicing your individual, special, important purpose - remember, your efforts are royally rewarded with a sense of fulfillment and happiness from the inside...

Further readings around this topic:
How to achieve happiness - Two easy steps to leaving a legacy - What happens TO me vs THROUGH me - Ready for something different?