Are you dissatisfied with your current profession?
Do you find yourself feeling confused about the direction your life is headed in?
Have you ever felt like maybe you should have stayed in school just a couple more years so you could have more time to figure things out?
Are many of your friends getting engaged, and having babies, while you sit at home twiddling your thumbs wondering if you missed the memo?? (Okay, maybe that's just me)
If the answer to any or all of these questions is a firm "hell yea", you may just be suffering from the quarter life crisis.
From what I have both observed and experienced myself, it seems like this quarter life experience begins a couple months after graduating from college and lasts until the late 20s/30. When we all graduated from college it was like, "finally I'm free!!". You were gainfully employed, moving out on your own and paying all your own bills. Coming and going as you pleased.... living the life of a full blown adult. Then as the months rolled by and being a slave to the 9-5 (or 8-6 like myself) and watching your money get flushed down the toilet everytime you paid bills, you noticed the stress and anxiety begin to build. All of a sudden, life wasn't only about having fun and doing enough just to get by, like it was while you were in school. There were real responsibilities and expectations. Not going to work could equal not getting paid or even losing your job, unlike during college, when not going to class just meant having to get the notes from someone else.
I think the most difficult aspect of the quarter life crisis is adjusting to real life. I always said for as long as I could remember, that I never wanted to grow up. Even as a kid, when all my friends and my own younger brother constantly proclaimed that they couldn't wait until they grew up, I disagreed. Even then I knew that growing up, especially in it's initial stages, sucks. Yes, it's fun at times but it is also a lot of hard work and headaches.
If I polled my friends today, I couldn't rally 5 people together who were content with where they are in life; it seems as if everyone is in search of "the something better". But what if that something better doesn't exist? Is part of being an adult, coming to terms with the fact that you won't always be satisfied with your life but that you have to make the best with what you've got? Honestly, I hope not but we will all see.
Finding love at this point in life is difficult because of the reasons I mentioned above. Everyone is in search of "the something better" and while we are searching for that, we don't make the time to give most people the serious time of day. We're so busy moving and shaking and trying to figure ourselves out that we don't have the patience to nurture and shape a relationship with another 20 something into something viable. Even if we actually like that person! I know we've all heard that you need to have yourself together before you can build with someone else. But what about the idea of building together? Life will never be perfect. He will never be perfect, she will never be perfect, and YOU will never be perfect.
Maybe if we all came to terms with that idea, we could be just a liiiiittle bit more relaxed about this quarter life thing.
What do you think?
I think that now is the time where u need to be taking risks and taking advantage of opportunities not otherwise given if not in a certain situation. Do something out of the norm! just out of that comfort zone. Save up and splurge on something u really want [within your means of course]! live it up but make calculated decisions. Going for that new job or starting you own business is good now while u have the energy and time to rebound. kids marriage and other factor can hinder/cancel some of these options later.
ReplyDeleteSettling is NOT an option for a guy like me but I guess it is for some. Im not content but I am enjoying the moves that were made and looking forward to new opportunities
-The Take Off
I would definitely have to agree that now is the time to do exciting things and take risks. Honestly, if you are single and childless the only person you really have to worry about taking care of is you. Which can definitely be a bonus... you can go where you want, when you want, and never have to be held accountable for it.
ReplyDeleteI would say though that a lot of people at this stage see relationships as hinderances to having fun in life, I beg to differ. When I think about finding someone to share my life with, I don't just think of the complications that may bring, I think of adding having someone new that I can have fun and enjoy my life with.
I don't think relationships are total hinderances on having fun, but coordinating schedules and syncing off days and such can be tedious tasks when trying to take trips with your spouse. But experiencing lifes wonders are cool with someone u love/care about.
ReplyDeleteI agree with "A young astronaut", Now is the perfect time to take risks.. We're young. What better time to live and gamble then now? I have a lot of friends that are engaged or just recently got married and a majority of them believed they did it too soon. They all regret the fact that they didnt take the chance to live by themselves or do what they always wanted to do.. Everything they do now, they have to run it by their spouse/ significant other as oppose to just getting up and going..
ReplyDeleteChasinDaDream, you're a man aren't you? That's such a man response! lol Juuust kidding, kind of.
ReplyDeleteLike I said before, I do agree that now is the time to take risks and "chase dreams" but I can't say that it's impossible to be with someone and do that at the same time. Maybe it's the "ride or die" traditional aspect of me that believes two people who care for each other should be down to have fun together and build together.
I wanna be there when the chips are down as much as I wanna be around when you're sailing high. *That was corny but yall get the point lol.