Ask HN: Does your life have a purpose?

I think both of those options are really about yielding happiness. The first option seems a hell of a lot safer and the second one seems a little uncertain. If it's happiness you're after, then you're more likely to find it in the company of others, than you will in isolation.

> Have you always felt that you had a purpose in life, and regardless of what happens, that conviction never changes even though you don't know exactly what that purpose is?

Nothing in life is absolute.

> Did you ever have to make a seemingly selfish decision that hurt someone close to you in order to achieve the focus/freedom necessary to fulfill your purpose?

Yes.

The right way to approach this is to have an excellent #1 which you can fall back on if you're having trouble with #2.