The thing is, it really doesn't matter.  It just doesn't.  Purpose/meaning/value are all just self imposed metrics upon it.  Well what is it?  It is anything you regard that is important or has value.  Making a decent amount of money at a good job with good coworker doesn't really matter.  It may enable you to do things that you might not have been able to do without that source of income, but if it is gone what do you really lose?  A social metric as to what you might really be worth or what value you provide to society in general?  True, you may lower the actual GDP (however minutely) or become a burden on social programs in your area but does that really affect/change who you are?  Same with <insert metric of your choice here>.  Its all the same.  Your value is what you make it to be and the social constructs that enslave us to match the collective values around us are only detrimental to what we what we are.

Now what are we?  Ok, that's a foolish question to ask because I couldn't possible attempt or hope to answer that question for you.  I can attempt to answer this for myself though.  So what am I?  I'm someone with a free will to choose to do as I please and seek goals and answers to what I think I desire and need.  I can go and make a decent wage and live a good life if I so choose, and I can do the opposite.  "Now wait a minute. Isn't that going against what you said that this sort of thing doesn't matter?"  Good question!  It can, but not necessarily!  If you choose to do <xyz> because of the social acceptance or metrics that you gain out of it, then it sure is going against what I have brought up as you are just exposing yourself back to the social metrics that have been placed around you.  If you do it for yourself though, and don't do it for the purposes of matching one of these social metrics, than its fine!  Don't worry about it and do what you think is good for you, irrespective of what social metrics might say.

In other words (and to sum it up), you create a value that is unique to yourself and as long as you are true to that value of yourself and don't try to match the metrics that society constructs, than you are following your own path that provides value to what you do in the way that you then feel the most valuable.  And that is something that we all should go for.