- Are you experiencing confusion or disappointment in your career?
- Is it difficult for you to make decisions and when you do, you question them?
- Do you overanalyze yourself?
- Are you thinking about going back to grad school because you don't know what else to do with your life?
- Do you feel entitled to a life much grander than the one you are living?
- Is your life just not at all turning out like you planned?
- Do you frequently compare yourself to other people your age and feel like you don't measure up?
- Do you often feel depressed, anxious, overwhelmed, lost, and maybe even a little hopeless?
- Are you concerned that you don't know what you want to do with your life?
- Are you in a "funk" where you feel like nothing is terribly wrong, but nothing seems right either?
- Are you stressed out by choices that seemingly will affect the rest of your life?
So I was reading this terrific article on Huffington Post website titled, "Are You Having a Quarterlife Crisis?" a column by life coach and author Christine Hassler. The column discusses what many of us twenty-somethings (and perhaps older) are mentally enduring...the Quarterlife Crisis, which, according to Word Spy is defined as "Feelings of confusion, anxiety, and self-doubt experienced by some people in their twenties, especially after completing their education."
STOP. HOLD UP. WAIT A MINUTE.
As scary as it sounds, this phase is perfectly normal. It's funny how some of us think that after college graduation we are supposed to have out entire lives figured out! Wrong! Quarterlife crisis's aren't forewarned things that are taught...they are natural phases of life that we each experience differently. We all travel through mid life wondering what life has to offer and we begin to map out our journey, but it doesn't always seem as easy as it did when we were younger. You might have said "I want to be a lawyer or a doctor when I grow up," but then you major in Math in college and take an interest in teaching. It's the inevitable, normal change we all experience going trying to figure out who we are. We get overwhelmed and confused when life really hits us in the face, and we are now faced with answering the making a major question: WHAT IS MY PURPOSE ON THIS EARTH?
Just reading this article literally made me sink down into my chair, like a cartoon character. I immediately began to think about where I am at the current the point in my life and what I want to accomplish. I wouldn't say I am totally unhappy, but I'm definitely not completely satisfied. This is why life throws curve balls and it's up to us to figure out how and when to catch them. Now that you know you may be experiencing a quarter-life crisis, you can reflect and meditate on what it is that makes you happy. What it is that makes you comfortable. What it is that inspires you to be the best at your craft.
To say the least, as chilling as it was to read this article, I must say that it served as an extra dose of inspiration that I'm sure we all need! Everyday is a learning experience, so there's no such thing as ever knowing everything about life. It is a constant struggle to do better for oneself and advance who we are. It's also important that we find our inner Fearlessness and GO FOR IT! Whatever your passion may be, whatever your calling or niche is, DO IT! Now is the time to take complete control of your own life and stop worrying about what others may think. At the end of the day, you pay your own bills, you do your own laundry, and you are your own best friend. YOU are you own destiny...no one else can tell you how to live your life. Have FAITH and FEARLESSNESS to take the risk!
Check out these motivational books by Christine Hassler:
and by Alexandra Robbins:
Life is as small word, but has a HUGE meaning.
I've been there. I had it at 25 when I was poor in grad school, while everyone else was buying houses and well into their successful careers. I now take things one day a time. I'm easier on myself and I congratulate myself on everything that I HAVE accomplished rather than focus on what I HAVEN'T.
ReplyDeleteMy blog talks about various aspects of the quarter life experience... http://toya-quarterlifechronicles.blogspot.com.