Crisis of '20 somethings'....

I recently turned 25, marking the silver jubilee of my life.And I could hear this sentence "Hey,you have turned 25...can you believe it?" being echoed all around me...(who was playing this line on and on, I still cant figure out, my inner self may be.. :) Time flows by so quickly...!! I felt It was a moment to reflect upon my past life...a moment of retrospection...there was a string of successful moments, failures, let-downs, happy and sad moments all dotting the 25 year old landscape of my life...Was there anything that I wished to change? Not at all...Infact I was happy with the way Life had turned out be and I still am...may be because I am not someone who broods about the past too much...

But hey, 20 somethings are expected to have something called 'Quarter Life Crisis' that seems to afflict them quite regularly.Do I have the symptoms? Lets check out...

 
                                                           Struck by QLC???

One of the symptoms of Quarter Life Crisis (referred to as QLC hereafter...btw,there is also a rock band in LA by this name!!) is that you start introspecting a lot , and try to know more about yourself, about your strengths and your weaknesses.Rings very true in my case as I do SWOT analysis of myself once in a life...and it really does help in the long run...

Another symptom is the feeling of insecurity about your future like where would I be 5 years down the line? Am I doing the right thing? Is this the best job that I have/deserve? Should I go for higher studies to give a boost to my sagging career? What if I fail? These and a lot more questions confront mostly the people in their 20s...Some go on a job-hopping spree when confronted with this or most often follow the herd instinct and end up with something they never desired...and some go into their shell and experience bouts of depression...and there are others who dont lose control over their life and become successful.....Its never wrong to be concerned about your career but constant worrisome attitude can make you a maniac...Just look at the things more positively and rationally and dont break yourself if you fail a few times...

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds know still don’t.

You also start feeling that this a meany-weeny world and most of your friends are selfish and they are not exactly how you had expected them to be.Infact your friends also seem to harbour those feelings and are as confused as you are...this happened to me sometime back...this happens when your expectations are dashed...so it always helps to be a little realistic about what you have to offer and what you need to expect from others...
 

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

You also seem to miss your college days and the camaraderie that you shared with your peers.And to your shocking disbelief,its something totally different out there in the corporate world...its the end of all innocence....fortunately i never had to go through this as some of my peers joined the same company and infact some even landed up in the same department...though one would be better off opening himself up to the outside world...communication and networking is the key...when one has to do business with strangers on a regular basis...         

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out. Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in  doing this, tell me how.

You also tend to become overly critical of yourself...feel alone,scared and confused and try to cling to your past very dearly...You start comparing yourself with others and tend to move between various extremes...you laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life...You get your heart broken and cannot digest that how can somebody so easily ditch you like that....or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough to get to know better...You love someone but maybe love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you are not a bad person...One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap and getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision....yeah..how true? :)

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

So what are those people supposed to do who suffer from QLC? Nothing at all...hang on with ur life and dont worry much about it...its simply a phase in the constant evolution that a human being undergoes...so just Enjoi...

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

The past cannot be changed, the future is still in your power. -  Hugh White  (1773-1840)

 

p.s. - The italicised text is taken from the 'Sunscreen' song by Baz Luhrmann.