Do you know? There has always been a destiny! For you, for me, for each one of us! It's just that we fell asleep and got swept in the current of modern life and its pressures and obligations and the current took us away from where we were meant to be. But that place still awaits us and our souls yearn for it. When we drag them through landscapes that are foreign to them they scream in agony and thoughts that enter your consciousness might sound something like this: is this all there is? Why I am here? This is not what I meant to be doing!
You pick up books and look at pictures and see stories on social and other media and you think: "This is cool. Wish I could do that, but of course I can't, I've got kids and mortgage and elderly parents and career and people who depend on me to keep doing what I am currently doing." And all of this is true but that doesn't mean you can't start moving in the direction of your destiny 'patiently and in small steps', like, I was told, Coelho recommends in his novel "Pilgrimage".
One day you might wake up with a stark realization of what your destiny is and where you are meant to be, but even before that, I believe we are all subconsciously searching for our lost goal posts. Look for them in your childhood, the naive childish desires we expressed are your compass. They are unaltered yet by the magnetic forces of the world and should point to your true north. Look for it in your creativity, your poems, your fiction, your art. There will be bread crumbs that might show your where your Home is. Look for it on the borders of your consciousness, when you are half asleep and half awake or deep in meditation or even half drunk. You just never know when you will see it, so keep looking. And when you see it don't flinch away. Sure, it might be scary and overwhelming and might seem impossible but if this is your true destiny you will feel excitement too. And when you caught it, don't let it go! Don't close your eyes and drift back to sleep both literally and metaphorically. Hold on to it, study it, tame it and make it yours. Because it is. It came to you because this is what is meant to happen. So don't get overwhelmed by how hard or weird or lonely or 'supply your own adjective here' it is. And don't be put off by what other people will say or do or think. Let them. It is not their destiny. It is yours. That's not to say that you will be alone or unique. There might be others, there should be others who share your destiny otherwise where all those books and pictures and media stories came from? Eventually, if you follow your true path you will find your community and they will support and guide you. I hope.
Oh, and don't despair about all the time you spent doing other things in life. Guess what? You were probably meant to do them too! They were the streams that fed your own river, the river of your destiny. And if you let it, it will carry you to where you are meant to be because now you are stronger than you were in childhood when you let other people's rivers carry you to other people's destinies. Let it carry you. Swim with the flow. You might feel scared and alone and you will feel like swimming against this current because it is taking you to the place that is frightening and unknown and looks lonely and cold. It is probably not like that at all, but even if it is... If it is truly your place than you will make it your own and you will be happy there if you are true to yourself.
If you swim against the current of your own destiny... I suspect all of our physical and mental ailments come from doing just that, from going against our natures and fighting against our destinies and doing what society tells us is the right thing except it is not right for us and we end up stressed and depressed and sick. Don't blame society though, those things might be right for a lot of people and those people might be happy and fulfilled doing exactly what they were told to do. Don't envy them their destinies, you've got your own and there will be someone who will envy yours.
So look for it, find it, tame it, and start moving in that direction. Don't blame anyone, don't envy anyone. We are not in competition with one another at all. We are just discovering our own paths and walking them. Do find the courage to start walking on your own path. I think we will regret if we don't. I feel we will regret if we fall under societal pressures. We might not ever reach our goals whatever they may be but we will regret not going for it. This is what I've come to believe.