It All Starts with God
For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible,... everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.
Colossians 1:16 (Msg)
Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless.
Bertrand Russell, atheist

Its not about you.
The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. Its far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.
The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That's because we typically begin at the wrong starting point ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose. The Bible says, It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone's life is in his power.
Contrary to what many popular books, movies, and seminars tell you, you wont discover your life's meaning by looking within yourself. You've probably tried that already. You didn't create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for! If I handed you an invention you had never seen before, you wouldn't know its purpose, and the invention itself wouldn't be able to tell you either. Only the creator or the owners manual could reveal its purpose.
 
You must begin with God, your Creator. You exist only because God wills that you exist. You were made by God and for God and until you understand that, life will never make sense. It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end.
Many people try to use God for their own self-actualization, but that is a reversal of nature and is doomed to failure. You were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use you for his purposes, not your using him for your own purpose. The Bible says, Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life.
 
 How, then, do you discover the purpose you were created for? You have only two options. Your first option is speculation. This is what most people choose. They conjecture, they guess, they theorize. When people say, I've always thought life is . . . , they mean, This is the best guess I can come up with.
For thousands of years, brilliant philosophers have discussed and speculated about the meaning of life. Philosophy is an important subject and has its uses, but when it comes to determining the purpose of life, even the wisest philosophers are just guessing.
Dr. Hugh Moorhead, a philosophy professor at Northeastern Illinois University, once wrote to 250 of the best-known philosophers, scientists, writers, and intellectuals in the world, asking them, What is the meaning of life? He then published their responses in a book. Some offered their best guesses, some admitted that they just made up a purpose for life, and others were honest enough to say they were clueless. In fact, a number of famous intellectuals asked Professor Moorhead to write back and tell them if he discovered the purpose of life!
 

Fortunately, there is an alternative to speculation about the meaning and purpose of life. Its revelation. We can turn to what God has revealed about life in his Word. The easiest way to discover the purpose of an invention is to ask the creator of it. The same is true for discovering your life's purpose: Ask God.
God has not left us in the dark to wonder and guess. He has clearly revealed his five purposes for our lives through the Bible. It is our Owners Manual, explaining why we are alive, how life works, what to avoid, and what to expect in the future. It explains what no self-help or philosophy book could know. The Bible says, Gods wisdom . . . goes deep into the interior of his purposes. . . . Its not the latest message, but more like the oldest what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us.
God is not just the starting point of your life; he is the source of it. To discover your purpose in life you must turn to Gods Word, not the worlds wisdom. You must build your life on eternal truths, not pop psychology, success-motivation, or inspirational stories. The Bible says, Its in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. This verse gives us three insights into your purpose.

1. You discover your identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

2. God was thinking of you long before you ever thought about him. His purpose for your life predates your conception. He planned it before you existed, without your input! You may choose your career, your spouse, your hobbies, and many other parts of your life, but you don't get to choose your purpose.

3. The purpose of your life fits into a much larger, cosmic purpose that God has designed for eternity.
 You may have felt in the dark about your purpose in life. Congratulations, you're about to walk into the light.
 
Question to Consider: In spite of all the advertising around me, how can I remind myself that life is really about living for God, not myself?

You are not an accident.

I am your creator. You were in my care even before you were born," says the lord Isaiah 44:2crv

Long before you were conceived by your parents you were conceived in the mind of God. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, no coincidence that you are breathing at this very moment. I am alive because God wanted to create me.

So why am I here what's my purpose what special influence do I have for this world. Will my life make a difference. so many before me so why did God make me, I search for meaning in my children's eyes so full of innocence and promise. I seek the heavens as well for direction God knows my heart God knows my confusion most important why did I open this can of worms.

God made you to love you and you are his special creation. God was thinking of you even before you were born he made the world. In fact that's why he created it God designed this planets environment just so we could live in it. We are the focus of his love and the most valuable of all his creations. 

Long before he laid down the earths foundations he had us in mind, he settled on us as the focus of his love Ephesians 1:4msg

Living on purpose is the path to peace.

 Every ones life is driven by something, most dictionaries define the verb drive as "to guide , to control or to direct". Whether you are driving a car a nail or a golf ball you are guiding controlling and directing it at the movement what is the driving force of my life.

most people are driven by guilt, resentment, and anger, fear, materialism, or expectations of others. this article will help you to live a more purpose driven life guided, controlled, and directed by Gods purpose, nothing matters more than knowing God's purpose in your life. 

 God's purpose is not limited by your past. he can turn a murder in to a leader (Moses) a coward (Gideon) into a hero. and he can do amazing things in your life as well if you let him

There are great benefits to living a purpose driven life
Knowing you purpose gives your life meaning..
Knowing your purpose simplifies your life..
Knowing your purpose focuses your life...Knowing you purpose motivates your life and fulfilling your purpose will created an eternal legacy.

Everyone wants to be remembered when they are gone, ultimately what matters most will not be what others says about your life but what God says about you. How will you answer God when he asks "what did you do with my son Jesus Christ, what did you do with what I gave you.

Article from The Purpose-Driven Life, by Rick Warren

Paul has told us, “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” God has a purpose with us. How thankful we should be that because of His purpose, God is working to make sure everything in our lives can work out for our ultimate good.