February 6, 2012
The ϢЯong Side of 25
Photo by Candice Ashby (GummyPiglet.Photography)
People laugh when I talk about it, but it’s not that funny when you wake up on the wrong side of 25 only to realise you haven’t accomplished all the things you thought you would have.
Let’s see, that’s the relationship, the career, the decent bank savings, the mortgage… everything basically.
This, after investing years of time, money, energy, emotions, and did I mention energy? into studying, and building relationships and bonds that you hope would mature into fruitful products in due course.
When these efforts fail to materialise into enriching 20 & 30-something lives with direction, this can be very stressful and depressing for some young adults like myself. This woeful period is called the quarter life crisis.
No I did not just make that up.
Just Google ‘quarter life crisis’ and see the slew of search results it brings up.
Quarter life Crisis
You may be sceptical about it, seeing that only mid 40-something year olds have been thought to suffer from life crises.
But according to research (and frequent chats with my friends), I am not the only 20 or 30 something year old going through this.
British Researcher Oliver Robinson says that the quarter life crisis usually happens between 25 and 35, when young people are feeling the pressure to succeed in relationships, finances and careers before hitting 30.
Of the 1,100 young people he surveyed last year, 32% said they were under pressure to marry and have kids by 30; two in five worried over not earning enough, and 21% wanted a total career change.
And apparently one third of all people in their 20s feel depressed.
Happy Ending?
Not to mention the recent global recession has added to our woes, leaving in its wake millions of fresh faced graduates to compete for jobs with already unemployed, or job hunting 20 and 30-something year old professionals.
Nevermind. Both daddy and Robinson say our troubles won’t last: S
The quarter life crisis can be a catalyst for change, eventually leading us to build new promising lives for ourselves, Robinson says.
He explains that we usually pass through the following five phases of the quarter life crisis:
Phase 1 – A feeling of being trapped by your life choices. Feeling as though you are living your life on autopilot.
Phase 2 – A rising sense of “I’ve got to get out” and the feeling that you can change your life.
Phase 3 – Quitting the job or relationship or whatever else is making you feel trapped and embarking on a “time out” period where you try out new experiences to find out who you want to be.
Phase 4 – Rebuilding your life.
Phase 5 – Developing new commitments more attuned to your interests and aspirations.
If the panic has started to set in, hopefully you won’t don’t dilly dally too much. Apparently it can take us as long as two years to pass through the crisis.
See you on the other side! (hopefully).
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