I've never had direction or purpose in my life, and have spent my life feeling lost and thrashing around for meaning and purpose...all for nothing. I wonder a lot if my health wouldn't have nosedived at 25/26 if I'd have eventually found my way but probably not. I was a college dropout and then lived at home until 27 when I moved in with my then-boyfriend, now husband so I never actually lived on my own, or like an adult who made their own decisions and had that freedom (or as much freedom as one ever can have considering, like you, I'd have just ended up in a 9-5 slave job - not a CAREER, mind you...just a job to get a paycheck. That would have crushed me down even further.)
Life is shit. Either you're too sick in body and/or mind to work and be independent, or (most of us) end up in unfulfilling jobs that serve only to bring in the money to pay the bills and maybe a little extra if we're lucky. I envy those people who work at careers and jobs they love and who are healthy - it seems so foreign to me, like they've won the lottery of life.