Purpose of life...

What is the purpose of our lives??The theosophical question..and i do not expect an answer to that.
I have been reading this book last week" Palace of Illusions"- Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni / Doubleday books. The book left several impressions and emotions. Reading the much read epic from a very unlikely protagonist was the first. While Paanchali/ Draupadi is the axis around which the entire Kurukshetra war evolved, i am not sure how much of her story came into writing.
The book felt like i was listening to a friend, a woman of my age, with all the regular trappings of a normal human, and confused with her priorities and purposes in life, and with all the flaws that can be.
She wishes, loves, hates, falters and in all that she does, the destiny of the people around her is shaped. So is with the other characters in the story. While the story is not new, the emotions of the characters are, and i empathized with each one of them.
She knows the purpose of her life, and is unable to control the flow of events..and moves onto afterlife knowing that she had fulfilled what she had been destined to. That what came out of her actions was not in her hands,she was merely a catalyst.

Left me with one thought. The purpose of our lives these days seem to be no bigger than that of a firefly. Am i making a difference to the world i am in? I do not know, but i'd like to strive for and believe so....