Quarter-Life Crisis

At 16 you can drive.

At 18 you can vote.

At 21 you can drink.

At 25 if changes from things you "can" do, to hitting your "quarter-life crisis".

Then it's more like things you HAVE to do. So what happens after that?

Is there an age when you're finally "old"?

Is there an age when you're supposed to have it all figured out?

I'm almost 26...well it's a couple months away, but closer to 26 than 25...I definitely don't feel like I'm supposed to be "old" yet, but I definitely still have no idea what I'm doing with my life. BUT I am pretty sure that I for sure hit THE CRISIS this year. It came in a few little ones that all built up...but I have learned to relax a little bit and just enjoy doing things I like.

25 is sort of confusing because you're done with college, but maybe not totally into a career yet. You probably know your style and the kind of music and food you like (you probably knew that at ten). You have your best friends you grew up with and the ones from college that you will be friends with forever...BUT you also have colleagues and acquaintances that you have to balance and make sure that you don't forget who your real lifetime friends are. You may or may not know how to cook...is heating up a Lean Cuisine considered cooking? :) You probably don't have a mortgage yet. You probably don't have to worry about investments...If you're me, you still don't even pay your medical insurance and you're still on your family's cell phone plan.

I, myself, am done with my undergrad, but I've been working at a job for three years that is not at all related the to field that I thought I was going to go into. I'm actually really grateful for the job that I have and I enjoy it, but this year I've really been struggling with what I wanted to do for grad school. I always knew I would go back, but I didn't know what to do.

I've also been dating that same person for two years. I've mentioned before that whole, "you just know" thing, but for me there have been so many other factors involved.

There have been a few other things to consider throughout the year that I will not bore you with, but sometimes it's like seriously, how many decisions do I have to make at one time?

Courtney posted this article on her blog recently and I really liked it. It's called 11 Things to Know at 25ish. If any of you out there are like me and are still trying to figure these things out, maybe this will help and you'll enjoy it too.

I highly suggest reading it, but these are the 11 things it outlines:

1. You have time to find a job you love.

2. Get out of debt, and Stay out of debt.

3. Don't rush dating and marriage.

4. Give your best to friends and family.

5. Get some counseling.

6. Seek out a mentor.

7. Be a part of a church.

8. Find a rhythm for spiritual disciplines.

9. Volunteer

10. Feed yourself and the people you love.

11. Don't get stuck.

Ask yourself some good questions like: “Am I proud of the life I’m living? What have I tried this month? What have I learned about God this year? What parts of my childhood faith am I leaving behind, and what parts am I choosing to keep? Do the people I’m spending time with give me life, or make me feel small? Is there any brokenness in my life that’s keeping me from moving forward?”

I really liked that quote from the article. I feel like you can't make life decisions all at once. It's a process and that may have been the source of my "crisis". I just wanted an answer and I just wanted to be able to make a decision. I just need to relax, put in some effort, and hope that everything will work out how it is supposed to.

All in all at some point we're all going to get old, whether that means at 23 because you're already married with kids and you grew up a lot faster than some of us, or you're not old until you're 60 because it's more of a feeling than an age. One thing is for certain, growing up is hard and it is never how you expect it is going to be. Is it?