Quarter Life Crisis

Call it a gift of the modern times, or just young people with a tad too much time on their hands, but quarter life crisis is a very real thing, and it is happening to a lot of people around you.

It all starts out fine. You're a kid, cute and all that, the entire world is at your beck and call. Troubles start as you start growing up. There is so much to do, so much not to do, friends, school, learning and education. Things only go downhill as you progress into your teens. In addition to the above, you then have to deal with acne, hair in the wrong places, the opposite sex, crushes, link ups, break ups and what not. As you move further ahead, more sinister matters crop up. These include, but are not limited to - higher studies, career, job, job satisfaction, getting peer approval for everything, marriage, kids and the entire gamut. Give me a break!

So you see, in present times, the first 25 or so years pass a person by so rapidly, that he has no clue what hit him / her. He / she has only been following someone else's bidding all this while. And then when you reach your mid-twenties, the little voice in your head that has been timid and weak all this while starts getting louder, to the point where you can't ignore it anymore. And that's when you realize that its time you took the reins.

This however, is easier said than done. There are so many knots to undo! The whole process is so daunting that you start doubting the feasibility of it all. This uncertainty, this tentativeness, this indecisiveness is what leads to the crisis, of which I too am a victim.

Whether or not I now change based on my inputs (inputs from others around hardly matter) and what will be the magnitude of such a change (if it happens) is something only time will tell. For the moment, I am going to put down a list of things, off the top of my head, that typify my quarter life crisis, and maybe you can compare it to yours...in no particular order -

I wish my grandparents were still around. There is nothing conflicting this ; it's an absolute truth.


I want to be a kid again, but I don't like my Mother treating me like one.


I want more authority and freedom, but not necessarily more responsibility.


I want my job and my interests to match, but I myself am forever changing the definition of interesting.


I want my friends to spend more time with me, but I also want them to understand when I am busy and can't be with them.

I want longer weekends, but when there is a holiday I get easily bored.


I want to sleep more everyday, but don't want to feel guilty afterwards.


I want better clothes, better gadgets and better accessories, but I also want to save money.


I want to go back to Kanpur and do a Ph.D, but I don't want to leave my family and friends behind again.


I want to know how everything works, but don't like it if the explanations become too complex.


I hate to be bossy, but I don't like it when my younger sister doesn't listen to me.


I want to watch cartoons, but I also want to know what's breaking in the news at the same instant.


I want to eat all the good stuff all the time, but I don't want to get fat.


I hate being religious, yet when I have a problem, "God help me" is the first thought I have.

I am pathetic with goodbyes, yet I want people to miss me afterwards.


I want to live, not just exist.


I don't want a different life, I want my life to make a difference, something that is worth it all, something that I can be proud of.

I hope you went through all of them. I also hope that you found resonance in some places at least, and you are just a wee bit more comfortable in the knowledge that you are not alone.

P.S: I will add more points of conflict to the above list as and when they strike me. You can contribute too! Just drop me a line :)