The reason that so many people feel as if they don't have a purpose in this life is that the only purpose that they are serving is themselves. When we seek a purpose the point is one of meaning and importance. We want to matter to people but how do we do that? The best way to do this is to love people in ever more difficult ways and as we expand the groups that we love we lead ourselves into becoming better men.
At the lowest of this is those who love no one, not even themselves. These are the self destructive wretches you see slowly, or quickly destroying themselves and everyone around them. They are alcoholics and drug abusers not even because of its addictive qualities but because it is the only way to dull the pain.
One small step up is those that love that love only themselves. These can range from average, but selfish people to the worst of humanity. Those willing to put themselves above anyone. They think nothing of adultery and often go so far as to murder or even if given the opportunity genocide. The meaning of their lives is the pursuit of power or pleasure and whether they succeed or not has much more effect on the rest of the world as them because they are never truly happy.
The next step encompasses a far larger part of the world. Those who love a handful. These are the average people who love those who love them. They love their kids, their parents, their wife and possibly even a friend or two and depending on a belief system God. It is at this lukewarm stage of love it becomes something that can be forgotten about. They don't do any real harm because they have enough to care about but they don't do a lot of good either and often they spend a considerable amount of time wondering if this is all there is to life.
Next we move on to those with a passion. These are people who have discovered something to love. This level can be above or below the average depending on if they have friends and family they care about, but they typically do not question the purpose of their life. They have fallen so in love with something that it defines their purpose. This could be art, family, God, money, power or any number of other things. This passion can lead to fantastic works of art, unparalleled advancements in science, and large corporations. No matter what it is though it is love that gives a purpose to this passion.
Next are those who taste the true power of love. These are people who have at some point in their life allowed the circle of love to expand out from family and touch some other group. They have accepted some other group into the circle of love and their lives will never be the same. These people have a passion as the people in the previous group but it is for something bigger. These are people who change the world in big and little ways. They, like many of us, cry when they hear of starving children, wars, disease and more and love forces them to act. They go beyond sending a few dollars to a charity and become the charity. Yet in this group they still only see part of the picture. They understand the power of love but feel it towards the needy and downtrodden.
Taking another step up we find the saints and poet kings. These are men and women who have a glimpse of true love. An idea of universal love but achieve it imperfectly and through that they still change the world. It is at this point that we begin to be able to name people by name. These are religious leaders, Nobel prize winners and those who toil in silence all over the world without seeking credit is less important than the love.
Moving to the nearly impossible we find those who love their enemies. These people may not have the universal mindset of those who love the world but they do something almost unbelievable. These are the downtrodden and put upon who weep not for themselves but for those who hurt them. These are men who sit in prison without even the accusation of a crime and pray for those who imprison them. These are the mothers of murdered children who forgive the murderers so completely that they visit them in prison and the nonviolent protester who will allow himself to be beaten to death before he fights back.
And then we find ourselves at the impossible for humanity. A universal unconditional love that can be attributed to God. This is a love that weeps for Hitler and for those he murdered. This is a love so immeasurable that we as humans can't even grasp it. A reckless overwhelming love that will remake the world for any one person yet loves every person that much.
The purpose of life is not simply love, but the slowly expanding circle of love. If we want to have lives of true purpose that change the world we must continue to absorb more and more of the world into those that we love until there is no one left outside. The willingness to die not for a friend or even a good man, but a willingness to die for the worst human who has ever lives is the mark of success and a purpose to strive though we will never achieve it.