Quarterlife Crisis

While I am literally approaching a quarter of a century this year, I am mentally experiencing a quarterlife crisis at the moment. A lot of people know of mid-life crisis, but not everyone is familiar with quarterlife crisis. At quarterlifecrisis.com, it's defined as a period of anxiety, uncertainty, and inner turmoil that often accompanies the transition to adulthood.  One definition written in urbandictionary.com is that it usually occurs sometime in your twenties, a few years out of school and still feel as though you're waiting for your life to begin. I feel exactly like that. Although I'm out of college and have a job, I feel like I still haven't gone anywhere and that I'm still "waiting for my life to begin"


A majority of my friends and classmates have already begun a different chapter in their life. They have started their careers in engineering, accounting, etc., they are in long-term relationships and getting engaged, they have their own place, and a lot of people from high school already are married and have families. As for me, I feel like I've been stagnant. I've been the same as where I was three years ago, except there are a few years of admin experience that I can put on my resume. I currently hate my job, and don't think it can get me that much farther in life.


I feel like there's so much more that Andrea has to offer than being an admin assistant, however, I don't know what that thing is yet. There are so many things that I like to do, but I don't know what my "calling" is. I love fashion, but dislike patternmaking and sewing. I only like to see the end result of what I've created. I like photography, but I'm not financially able to just drop $2000+ on nice cameras and lenses. I like art, but I'm not that good in drawing. I like Photoshop, but I don't have a degree in graphics.


Although I'm not exactly sure what I can do to be happy with my life, I decided I need to step it up a notch. I need to be less lazy and do more productive things.  Recently, I posted as my status/tagline, "If I'm not where I want to be, it must mean I'm not trying hard enough". I do believe this because, if you don't work hard to get what you want, perhaps you really don't want it that bad. They say that we're always our own worst critic. In a way, it's a good thing. We push ourselves to do better, which moves us forward. 


Up until now, I've been quite lazy and not very proactive about moving myself forward. There was an excerpt in the book Quarterlife Crisis that I thought described exactly what I was feeling. Scott, a 27 year old wrote, "I've commited myself to exploring other options that interest me, but I'm having a hard time actually thinking of a career that souns applealing. There is one that I've been meaning to explore, but sometimes I'd rather just watch TV or play guitar or go out with my friends. So, maybe I'm not really meant to do that, either. When is something going to fall from the sky and hit me on the head, knock me out, and when I wake up I see clearly the road that lies ahead? Am I behind the curve? When will I know?"


I don't know what lies ahead, but I know I need to stop doing so many unproductive things. Up until now, all I do was go on facebook at night, chat, or watch TV, and go out on the weekends. It was relaxing, but otherwise, didn't seems to benefit me in any way. Therefore, I am going to try to discipline myself more:


-Limit myself only to one hour of facebook at home on the weekdays
-Chat less. Being online serves as a big distraction.
-Do something more productive the rest of the time like chores, read, exercise, etc.
-Get into the habit of sleeping six hours again. See how that will work out.
-Don't always give in on the weekends to going out and not doing anything else.