Earlier quoted context omitted.
Programming is what you do. It's not what you are. And lot's of what you've learned will not be wasted on the new you, who I wish every happiness to in the future.
This. It's nice to find meaning in your work, but doing so is a luxury not everyone cann afford. More importantly ones work should never be the only source for meaning, nor the most important. There are competeing schools of thought that value and life satisfcation can be measured by what we produce and what we consume. Both those schools of thought are lies, or at least incomplete.
This depends on the kind of person you are. Some personalities can survive without purpose others are absolutely floored without it, it's not a philosophy it's a matter of psychological makeup, rooted in biology.