trying to enjoy the last months of my nineteen-ness.. but because i miss ian a lot, posted this email of her’s:

“Being Twenty-Something”

They call it the “Quarter-life Crisis.” It is when you

stop going along with the crowd and start realizing

that there are many things about yourself that you

didn’t know and may not like.

You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will

be in a year or two, but then get scared because you

barely know where you are now. You start realizing

that people are selfish and that, maybe, those

friends that you thought you were so close to aren’t

exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the

people you have lost touch with are some of the most

important ones.

What you don’t recognize is that they are realizing

that too, and aren’t really cold, catty, mean or

insincere, but that they are as confused as you. You

look at your job… and it is not even close to what

you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are

looking for a job and realizing that you are going to

have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what

others are doing and find yourself judging more than

usual because suddenly you realize that you have

certain boundaries in your life and are constantly

adding things to your list of what is acceptable and

what isn’t. One minute, you are insecure and then the

next, secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest

force of your life. You feel alone and scared and

confused.

Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on

to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the

past is drifting further and further away, and there

is nothing to do but stay where you are or move

forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you

loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed

and wonder why you can’t meet anyone decent enough

that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love

someone but love someone else too and cannot figure

out why you are doing this because you know that you

aren’t a bad person.

One night stands and random hook ups start to look

cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts

to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and

questions over and over, and talk with your friends

about the same topics because you cannot seem to make

a decision.

You worry about loans, money, the future and making a

life for yourself… and while winning the race would

be great, right now you’d just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this

relates to it. We are in our best of times and our

worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure

this whole thing out.

Send this to your twenty something friends…. maybe

it will help someone feel like they aren’t alone in

their state of confusion… ..