Forget Mid-Life; The Quarter-Life Crisis is Real

College has been over for a few years, your friends are all getting married and having babies and suddenly a glass of good wine and your tivo is your favorite date on a Friday night. Maybe you have the urge to change careers or your husband drives up one day in a bright red convertible with two seats and decides it’s time for your family to start attending church and remodeling the house you built only a few years ago (hey, it happens). As 30 approaches, you might feel that it’s too early for a midlife crisis, but the truth is that a lot of people between the ages of 25 and 35 are experiencing what is now referred to as quarter-life crisis. Are you one of them?

You’re Trapped

Is it your job, or your relationship or your city that has you feeling trapped? Whatever has you feeling trapped doesn’t have to actually trap you. If you’ve been unhappy for a year or longer, it’s time to say “see ya” to whatever is holding you back and start down a new path. Life’s too short to be anything less than happy; and there’s no time to feel trapped, especially in the midst of a quarter-life crisis.

You See the Past as Much Better Than it Was

Let’s be honest here; does waking up with a massive hangover and no memory of the trashy bar you spent the evening before in sound good at all? No, it does not sound good, so why are you looking back at your past and wishing it wasn’t over? You had a great time because that was a different stage in your life. Remember that you are a different person now, and spending Friday night at a fabulous wine bar having tapas and a meaningful conversation and lots of laughter before heading out for a day of antiquing (sans headache and desire to vomit) on Saturday morning is far better than what your past has to offer.

You’re Scared

It happens. When you reach a certain age and your life is stretching out before you and it seems full of responsibility and not as much fun, it scares you. Don’t let it. Life is an adventure that you get to have. You’re lucky, not doomed. Keep repeating that and kick your quarter-life crisis to the curb.