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Health & Fitness

The "Quarter-life" crisis....say what?

A look inside the relateable stage of life: the quater-life crisis of the twenty-something's.

Put it into perspective. It’s a mental breakdown in the
middle of the day. Most likely over a spilled cup of coffee.

A life epiphany that displays what your life SHOULD look like. Or at least, what you want it to look like. Frantically job searching WHILE at work.  You’re still in contract but deleting the internet history is just one click away.

A flashback to a nostalgic weekend with high school friends. You dwell on it.

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You have everything you need right here but somehow it doesn't fit. You don't fit and you need a change, but you just don't know WHAT.

Wishing you were back in college(when in reality, all you ever did was complain about going to class.) BUT, we must remember that being back in college means well;  your parents still pay for insurance, your school loans are still acquiring with the option to defer,  rent is free (you’ll pay for it later), it’s much easier to keep in touch with friends, and you don’t have to be a “grown up” just yet.

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Relocation sounds ideal. Mandatory.

If you fit this criteria, well, you might be experiencing what some may define as the quarter-life crisis for the twenty-something’s.

We are all aware of the (other) life stages:

Ruts: we all fall into them, but we eventually weasel our
way back out. This is the, “No one loves me, my hair is frizzy and I want to go
home! (insert sad-face emoji) …” type of event.

And then of course we have…

The diet: a “gym phase,” if you will. You hide behind the dumbbells at the gym, your favorite cardio kickboxing class and you enjoy your afternoon run. Blasting it all out with music. All of course because it allows you to be alone; it allows you to think. You change your diet to remind yourself that you have self-control. Lastly, you might lengthen your afternoon run to listen to books on tape. You might sign up for a half-marathon because, “everybody’s doing it,” and you enjoy when people ask if you’ve been, “working out,” just so that you can tell them yes. Confidence booster. Check.

Next is…

The not-so-occasional funk: just short of being depressed. Nothing can faze us,
but our diaries and Damien Rice. Ah, except for that tub of Ben and Jerry’s, of
course. Maybe a run in the park or a late night at Starbucks.

This all, of course, is just a winding road to the quarter-life
crisis of the twenty-something’s.

We surpass this stage and (eventually) fall into…

The mid-life crisis: an excuse for your parents to be out late doing less-than appealing middle-aged things.


Menopause: a grumpy mother lacking the ability to control
her emotions. And her outbursts; this consists of her style, mood and food
choices.


But no, nothing is quite like the road, the journey, to leaving you feeling unfulfilled in your quarter-life crisis. You have a boyfriend holding you back. You have a mother close enough to worry about you moving even farther away. A dreadful job that you just signed a contract to. Opportunities abundant but passions lacking.

So what do we do with it? Most of the time, 95% of the time,
we cover it up. We smother it with the stages of life and end up here: http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2722

We regret life choices and we wonder why we never pursued our passions in the first place. So, if you have that feeling on your heart, you need to pursue it. Talk
about it. Lay it out on the table. Trust me, that handful of headaches and barrel of bricks on your shoulders will be no more once you do. Once others are aware of your feelings, you can start to decipher them. You can find out where the source of your emotions came from. Was it a long trip with friends? A holiday break back home? Passions smothered by opportunities? Or was
it simply, that you never put it into perspective before?

Maybe you never really acted on what you were led to do. Either way, the time is now. If you are experiencing a quarter-life crisis, in any form, you need to find the source and cut the cord. Delve into the things you love, apply for jobs even if
they are out of reach. Picture yourself where you want to be and make it
happen. Once you do this, you can start to plan for the future. Though you
might be caught up in the crisis of the twenty-something’s today, you can act
on it tomorrow. All you have to do, is put it in perspective.

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