How I handled my quarter-life crisis

quarter-life crisis

Quarter-life crisis or Monday dread? The overwhelming feeling that you have to go back to work, internship, or weekly routine on Monday. However, there is a huge difference when you have the Sunday blues every day. You start dreading going to work and questioning if it is the right path you should be on, then all of a sudden you are second guessing everything you have done thus far in life. From piercing your nose, your outfit choices, and to get away from it all you book a one-way ticket to a coastal Airbnb.

Congrats, you have just had a quarter-life crisis.

Now let’s rewind back a bit, what led you to even have the mid-mid-life crisis in the first place? There is no right or wrong answer here. A mid-mid-life crisis, or quarter-life crisis, is an experience where everything becomes a little overwhelming. According to The Guardian, the quarter-life crisis affects 86% of millennials, who report being bogged down by insecurities, disappointments, loneliness, and depression.

Millennials, it’s less of a question of if you will experience a quarter-life crisis than it is a question of when.

Mine hit almost one month after my 25th birthday. I’m lucky enough to have a job that allows me to travel. It felt too good to be true that I had the chance to spend my monumental birthday in such a beautiful city. For absolutely no reason, shortly after that trip I started rethinking everything. Am I in the right career field? Am I living in the right city? Should I quit my second job, or dye my hair back to black? Should I buy the overpriced shoes I think I need? Which credit card do I pay off first? I was falling down the rabbit hole of confusion.

Did I immediately quit my job and move to a quiet bungalow in Palm Springs? No. Did I sit down and really think about what type of career I want in the end? Absolutely. The easiest aspect of our lives to second guess is our work life. Writing on paper my goals for the foreseeable future and thinking about my career as a whole, definitely helped.

Doesn’t it also seem as though everyone is getting married too? Why not give it the middle finger? There are plenty of women out there rocking their lives without a partner. I hate to break it to you, but there are no rules. You can be engaged for 10 yeas before getting married, you can be in a happy, committed relationship for 30 years and never get married. Freezing your eggs is another option we have nowadays, or, not have children at all. Live it at your own pace.

What happened to everyone also getting a tan? A friend of mine reached out during my crisis and said it looked like I’ve been having the time of my life recently according to my Instagram. Little did she know how I was actually feeling. As much as we don’t want to admit it, social media allows us to cover up what is really happening in our lives. We can project to the world that maybe our life isn’t so bad after all.

What it really came down to was, am I really happy where I am in life? If not, what can I do to make it better? Tackle your quarter-life crisis. You have one life, so you better make it everything you’ve ever wanted. Get rid of toxic friendships or relationships. Talk to your boss about what your goals are in the company. Move to the city you’ve always dreamed about living, save money for a vacation, delete all social media for a while, and most important, talk to someone if you need to. There is no harm in reaching out to a licensed professional that you can talk to with no bias. Letting out all your questions and problems can sometimes be the best cure of all.

By changing your perspective on quarter-life crises, you can turn it into a positive. Fortunately, the quarter-life crisis doesn’t have to be something to fear. It shows us that it can actually be the thing you need to experience to take your life to the next level.

 To Read Next:

4 signs your friends are negative influences

How to deal with emotional pain when you’re young

6 killer strategies to make your week more productive 

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