Quarter-life Crisis

[hopeinGod714]

Hey all,

I'm 21 years old and believe that I'm am going through a quarter-life crisis. I feel anxious, depressed, apathetic, detached from a lot of aspects of life. This thing is extremely scary. As someone that may be more prone to anxiety, it seems that this (what I hope is a) stage is even more intense. A lot of these feelings didn't surface until I came back home (decided to take time off from school) and was introduced to the real world while serving as an intern. 21 may seem young for a quarter-life crisis but I was wondering if any of you had experienced anything similar. I feel rather lonely right now, but I feel a growing maturity inside of me, and what's more is that I have a strengthened and reinforced relationship with Christ which is great. Please lend me your thoughts on this. I have one year of school left which is comforting to me, but life after that scares me. Thanks.

- hopeinGod714

 

[Thunder Peel]

Hey man!

I don't have a lot of advice but I'm sort of there too and have off and on for the last couple of years. Early to mid-20's is a tough time of life because you're finishing school, working, changing mentally and physically, and just generally figuring out what you want from life. It's tough but the fact that you're growing closer to Christ is a great sign and that will steer you out of a lot of trouble that your peers will sadly fall into.

Life is tough but there are great things too. It's just a matter of finding them and allowing God to work through the bad times in your life for His glory.

 

[hopeinGod714]

Thank you so much for the kind and encouraging words Thunder Peel. They mean a lot. May Christ keep you

 

[jeremylovesjesus]

Our world can be a scary one. Culture would have you believe that you have to handle it all on your own. All Jesus wants is to show you how He can handle it for you. Culture would tell you that you have to be completely in control of your future when you get out of college. All Jesus wants is for you to follow Him, no matter where it leads.
Leave the destination up to Him. Leave the decisions and the struggles and the difficulties at His feet and let Him show you the way to go.
His burden is light, society's is heavy.
Hang in there, hang onto Him. You'll not only survive this time, you will prosper.
Blessings.
For the Kingdom,
-J@QLC

 

[laurenmlanham]

I'm going through the same thing! I hope you feel better soon.

 

[Luther073082]

Yes I went through the same thing after I finished school.

I think the big thing is that when you are in school, there is an obvious goal, you work at classes so that you can graduate, and graduation is the ultimate goal that you are working towards.

But then you get out into the real world and it becomes a question of what to do. Its hard enough to figure out exactly what you want to do and what your goals are, and then when you get that its tougher because you may not be sure how to attain that goal.

Also another problem that I had was after I left college I left pretty much all of my friendships behind.

 

[J.B.]

This is a lot like what I'm going through right now. I think one of the best things you may have done was to take a temporary break from school. I wish I could have, but that would have conflicted with some of my plans, especially encouraged by my parents. I'm actually supposed to transfer to UCLA this fall, but due to a setback, I must take a summer class to make up for it (Finite Mathematics), or I may have to start over my application again and wait until the very next year. But I do relate to just about everything you've mentioned; anxiety, fear, loneliness, feeling apathetic about certain things, depression, and more significantly a growing distance between me and God. I still need to get back on track, but being a part of an online community of Christians is not a terrible way to start either. I should also read the Bible more than I have the past year.

I advise that you continue to seek Christian advice, and even read the Scriptures for guidance. Prayer will be helpful as well. I will keep you in my thoughts.