A reply. . . .

Purpose?  Of course you have purpose, and it's within you all the time.  And it isn't just in one area--within you are a variety of talents and abilities that allow you to define your purpose as you will, that will allow you to change your purpose as you go through life and find your situations changing.  One who has a purpose of teaching young children may change his or her purpose to become a full-time parent; and once that job is no longer a full-time duty, do you think that I want someone to be suddenly purposeless in life?  Not at all--that person has other skills and talents to draw on to change his or her purpose, perhaps becoming a doctor or counselor or a waiter or waitress.

I think that too often you as humans over-intellectualize what it means to have a  purpose.  Any time you are serving other human beings, you are fulfilling a purpose.  No one should trivialize any other person's service at all--every form of service is vital, and every form is important.  People need to eat, and sometimes time spent in a restaurant is more full of true communication than time spent at home.  The wait staff, the cooks, the bus staff, the managers--all are fulfilling an important purpose.

The shame of it is that with all your thinking about purpose, sometimes you give only half an effort to the job you're doing now because you're thinking about another job that you'd prefer to be doing, or you feel that the job you're doing now is beneath you.

But no job is beneath anyone, as long as service is being fulfilled.  Likewise, no job is above anyone, as long as someone is willing to work to reach it.

Not every person is well designed for every purpose.  Not everyone can become a doctor.  Not everyone can make a living and perform service as an artist.  But all of you can serve a vital purpose, as long as you trust me to have given you the skills that you need, and as long as you trust yourself to do your best at all that you do.  Your purposes are within you, and they're covered up just like everything else by all the peripheral information and behaviors that you've learned since your birth.  Your goal is to uncover your purpose by uncovering your talents and developing them, not just letting them lie stagnant.

Purpose?  You have many, and they all involve the roles you fill.  You are son and daughter, brother and sister, mother and father, friend and lover, worker and leader, role model and learner.  Once you have in mind your various purposes, then you can work towards fulfilling those purposes in a way that will strengthen you, develop you, and help you to grow into the person you were meant to be.  Don't try to take on too many purposes, for some that you take on will not be authentic to you, but don't be afraid to take on a purpose that frightens you, for there you will find the most growth and learning.