When it comes to purpose, finding yours may not be as easy as it is for others. And I'm inclined to believe that it changes with time. Your purpose in life is not something someone will tell you, it's also not something that you'll rely on an external factor for. You figure it out based on experiences you've gotten from life. That's just how it is.
From decisions, to experiences and also from the stories of others. We learn, we unlearn, and we decide what works the best for us. It's never easy finding your purpose, but then it's not supposed to be easy. After all, it's something that you'll be devoting the rest of your life to, so you have no reason to be in a hurry because that could only cause you to make mistakes that you will come to regret.
But then, it could be that there is no such thing as a "purpose" maybe it's just something we tell ourselves to give our lives meaning. After all, without a purpose, the lives of most of us will have no direction. We simply go about doing anything and at any time. Just like Brownian motion, it's just totally random. That is not the way to grow.
Our purpose changes with time and seasons. It's what makes us to wake up each morning and do the things that we do. It's also the very thing that gets us to go into work even when we know that it's going to be stressful as hell for the lot of us. Our purpose is what makes us do things we know we won't enjoy but because we're looking at the big picture, we know that it will definitely be worth it.
Purpose can't be for material things. Your purpose in life can't be to buy a flashy car or to build a gigantic house, it's vainnand doesn't make sense because what happens when you achieve these things? What will be your next acquisition? A plane? A submarine? Our purpose has to be something that is bigger than our present and also has to have a great impact on our future.
Going to school for the main purpose of learning and becoming a better individual who can take care of your family in future, that's a purpose and it can work. However, going to school just so you get good grades is simply vain. After school, you get your family and then have to work multiple jobs that you don't like all to cater to your family. Your purpose then is to give them the life that they deserve, not for the moment but for their future. Especially the kids.
And when the kids are established and can stand on their two feet, the next purpose can be retirement. To live a quiet life where you can reap the fruit of your labor and just be happy about your accomplishments. With each season, the purpose will change and our view of life will change as well. Decisions we would have made in one season will not be applicable in another, which is why this is such an important topic.
We can find our purpose by looking inward and I'm sure that we can decipher what it should be. It can't be all that hard, I'm sure. All these I've mentioned is based on my idea of what purpose is. It's not really a human construct but even if it is, then I see nothing wrong with it because purpose is an important ingredient in the life of everyone. Without it, life will just be like zombies. Endless walking around doing nothing. Which is what makes it so beautiful.