Hello Deon... Allow me to offer what assistance I can as you begin your personal journey through the fields of knowledge and landscapes of perception that you are certain to encounter in your search for answers to all of life's "mysteries". You are likely one of a growing number of individuals (most are in their late teens and early twenties) who are currently experiencing an "awakening" for lack of a better term. This historical event has been unfolding in a series of stages beginning in the late 50's, early sixties with increasing numbers coming in with each consecutive wave. If you are feeling a little misunderstood, somewhat of an oddity amongst your peers, try not to pay to much attention to it. Not everyone is ready or prepared to understand The Nature Of Reality. (formerly referred to as the truth). Consider carefully the advice suggested by @lozenge 123 in the comments section of your post. You will eventually find a great appreciation for the important "key" he has offered as it allows you to open any door you encounter. Much of the help available to you on this site comes from individuals who, arrived on the 1st and 2nd waves. Most have spent many years exploring these issues from different perspectives. I think of our role is that of a facilitator (one who make a goal easier to reach) Find value in whatever resonates with you.

Lozenge 123 has given you a key and I am going to attempt to break up these resistance structures you have unconsciously built which will clearly not allow you to even begin. Once they are exposed, however, it will be up to you to release them and thus remove them from your path. (Good thing you like metaphors) You mentioned the "riddles of life"; here is one to ponder:

"If you want to know the truth, it's not what you believe. Your beliefs are just the tools to create what you perceive"

Here are the limiting beliefs you expressed in your post. I will suggest a possible alternative that might help quicken your journey.

"Life is like an unsolved puzzle. All that try have failed.

  Life as a puzzle is a popular metaphor that works well. However, it is by no means unsolved. Any open minded individual determined to find all the answers will.  No one is out there trying to hide the truth about our existence. In reality just about any question concerning life's meaning, purpose etc. has been answered and known by some for thousands of years and any adept seeker can find the clarity you seek if their mind is open and they are not afraid to look. Furthermore, the knowledge covers not only life in its physical form but also the non-physical aspects of our existence (life after death) (life between life) Spirit realities. Believing that there is no solution to the puzzle or that your trying to solve an unsolvable riddle is the biggest obstacle, you can erect as it closes your mind.

There is no solution to the puzzle How should one solve an unsolvable riddle? Find new puzzles to play with which are also unsolvable. How is the best method to go about it as the methods fail to yield the ultimate truth?

. Any one of these statements (beliefs) by itself can prevent you from discovering what you want to find. Replace all these with something to the effect of:

Life may be one difficult puzzle but I am the world champion of puzzle masters and I will solve this one by this time next year if not sooner!

After removing these barriers you can take the next step by requesting suggestions for reading or by asking more specific questions

I too felt, from a very early age, that life is a puzzle. I made it my life's goal to solve that puzzle, and in fact, I believe that I have discovered the missing parts so that it all makes complete sense. It was a journey. It was a LONG journey.

the best part of my journey began in life's darkest moment. My worldview CRASHED! How horrible that was. I suddenly realized, in a brilliant flash of awareness, that though my country (USA) honored and revered equality, justice, and freedom, none of these things were part of the American way of life. In fact, the opposite was true. I wondered how I could have missed it all of those years. I grew up in the 50s and 60s. At that time, women were inferior. I couldn't even apply for jobs listed as "men only". I was restricted to "woman wanted" or "girl wanted". I also grew up at a time when racial discrimination was rampant. The American South was segregated. Jews were denied housing and were, like the blacks, denied the right to use "white" beaches in the south. How could I possibly believe in America as the bastion of equality, justice, and freedom when I knew first from experience that America valued the opposite? Why did I believe what I was told and not what I knew to be true? What had been done "to" me?

So miserable was my condition after the worldview crashed, that I had two choices. One was to kill myself. The other was to find a science-based and rational worldview that would never fail me again. I obviously chose the latter, and my self-education began. During the process, I dropped Christianity. My study of quantum mechanics eliminated my ability to believe in the common definition of God - and certainly the Biblical God. So my journey, as fine as it is, does not include turning to God. Yet, as quantum mechanics also hinted at (sometimes rather strongly), there is something more to life that is not God because it is better than any definition of god that I have ever heard about.

As I said, I grew up as part of the baby boomer generation. I was in high school when Jane Roberts started publishing her accounts of an experience with an entity named Seth. I toyed with these ideas with some success, but whenever I tried talking about these ideas with my friends, they ALL laughed. That's how the day came when I decided that I would live my life in such a way that others would approve. What a mistake that was - which is how the worldview crashed in the 1980s.

After that, my unending quest was to understand what life is about. I discovered that it has no meaning, but it does have purpose, and when I am aligned with my purpose, it feels meaningful and purpose-FULL.

I found my answers because I WANTED to find my answers, and I was willing to let go of ANY belief that blocked me in my quest -- even the belief in the Biblical God. Because that was the focus of my life, answers came, along with all of the evidence that I needed to support those answers. I am now writing them in book form.

So if YOU want to solve the riddle of life, I suggest that you INTEND to solve the riddle of life, because it is a solvable problem. Of cousre, you may have to turn your beliefs outside-in and downside-up to see the solution.