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The Quarter-Life Crisis Is Very Real, But Remember - It Will Pass

At our age, life should be enjoyed, not worried over.

brandileigh

Apr 03, 2019

Towson University

The Quarter-Life Crisis Is Very Real, But Remember - It Will Pass

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You've all heard of the midlife crisis. Now meet the new "quarter-life crisis," affecting the lives and mental health of 20-something-year-olds everywhere.

I am getting ready to finish up college and begin on what could very well be my career forever. I'm preparing to go back and start a new program - and I'm absolutely terrified. What if I'm not where I'm supposed to be? What if I don't end up where I'm meant to be?

A quarter-life crisis can be defined as "a crisis which involved anxiety about the direction of one's life." It can start as early as 18 and as late as your early 30's.

The quarter-life crisis is real.

The direction of your life could have taken you to a college where you don't think you belong. You could have joined the military right out of high school, then realized too late that it wasn't the right fit for you.

The entire point of bringing importance to this crisis is that it's normal to feel these emotions. Who doesn't get nervous about where they'll end up?

I panic every day wondering how a graduate program expects me to come in with already having done research in a lab, when I have no time due to the fact that I have to take classes to complete undergrad and work in order to pay for my bills.

People are so quick to discount the fact that young adults can have perfectly legitimate feelings of anxiety regarding their future. I'm here to say that it is 100% okay to feel these things.

There is no exact science to life. If there was a manual out there somewhere, we would all be following it and living vastly different lives in a utopia somewhere.

Life is complicated and messy and not always pretty.

Sometimes it can be ugly. Sometimes the anxiety and worrying are too much.

If I had to give any positive advice, it would be that no matter where you are or what choices you made - you're still at the beginning of your life. There's always time to choose a new path. Some adults don't find a career in something that they're really passionate about until they're much older.

It's okay that you feel these feelings and it's okay that you worry. But remember that the situation you're in now is not permanent.

The quarter-life crisis will pass.

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The Quarter-Life Crisis Is Very Real, But Remember - It Will Pass

At our age, life should be enjoyed, not worried over.

The quarter-life crisis is real.

The entire point of bringing importance to this crisis is that it's normal to feel these emotions. Who doesn't get nervous about where they'll end up?

Life is complicated and messy and not always pretty.

The quarter-life crisis will pass.

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The struggles of having an RBF are all too real

1. People asking if you're mad at them.

2. Those people who hand out flyers don't always try to stop you.

3. Creepy guys telling you to smile.

4. "I thought you were a bitch when I first met you."

5. People telling you you'd be "so much prettier if you smiled."

6. Doing your makeup and looking great, which somehow intensifies the bitch face.

7. Regularly explaining "it's just my face."

We all go through certain stages when we have a crush, Tina just explains it better.

That moment that someone you never looked twice at suddenly makes you do a double take out of no where.

But you can't have a crush, that's outrageous. It's all in your head.

Because you don't have a crush, there's no reason to tell anyone about anything. Right?

But then they do something irresistible and you start to lose it.

Now accepting the fact you have a crush, you have to keep it under control.

Then there's the part where you tell your friends who will claim they called it.

They'll be excited and cheer you on. That's until they realize that your crush is all you'll be talking about.

Your obsession has become so bad, that your Facebook stalking is getting out of control.

But your friends will try and help move things along any way they can. That doesn't mean it will be any helpful though.

As time goes on, you start having fantasies about the two of you and it's starting to scare you a little.

You can't focus on anything because all your attention is on them and everything they do.

Anybody who comes near your crush is now an enemy, and you are willing to fight for your crush.

When you see them, you act like an idiot. Trying to hide your feelings may not be as discrete as you think.

Keeping your feelings inside will start to be harder and harder until you can't keep it inside anymore.

Who knows, maybe it will work out? Take a chance.

Everybody hurts sometimes.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

What about those of us who don't do it all in four years?

1. You feel like an elder.

2. You may feel lonely.

3. Senioritis is more real than ever.

4. You may feel a little down sometimes.

5. Fear of missing out won't be as real.

6. You are a college pro.

7. You'll have more free time.

8. You're happy you're still in school.

9. You feel like a guru.

10. You continue to grow.

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