Quarter Life Crisis?

Okay, so the following is NOT written by me but by a student from Mexico, Edgardo Nieto who studied at Apicius in 2007, this was written and published in the school's newsletter (Blending) which features articles and photos written or taken by the students. I was given this old newsletter today in class and it completely describes how I have been feeling. I think many can relate.

Veintitantos: The Reflections of a 20Something Year-Old, Abroad, With Many ???, And Many More Ideas Floating In His Head.

When you're in your twenties...An idea that becomes really stressful when it's the only one that you have.. It's called "The quarter life crisis"... you find yourself trying to get away from the crowd more than ever, you get this weird feeling of insecurity, and you start questioning yourself about where you'll be a year from now, but then you realize with panic that you hardly know where you are right now. You realize that there are a lot of things about yourself that you were not aware of and you may not like. You realize that your circle of friends is smaller than what t was a couple years ago. You realize that it gets more difficult to see your friends and to coordinate your schedules for different reasons be it work, school, partner (girlfriend/boyfriend) etc... And you start enjoying more and more the occasional evening beer because it's a great excuse to talk a little longer with you buddy that you don't see often. The crowded nightspots are not "fun" anymore, they even make you uncomfortable sometimes... You even miss school and its commodity, the groups, how you socialize with the same people in a certain and constant way. But then you start to realize that while some were real friends the other were not that special after all. You realize that some people were selfish and maybe those friends that you considered closest were not exactly the best people that you'd ever met, and the ones that you've lost contact with were the most important ones. You laugh more, but you cry less tears with more pain. Someone breaks your heart, and you ask yourself how that someone hat you loved so much could've done such a thing to you. Or maybe you go to bed at night and question yourself why you can't seem to meet someone interesting enough, someone that makes you fall in love with him/ her. It looks like everyone you know has had a boyfriend or girlfriend forever, and some of them are even getting married. Maybe you also love someone but you aren't sure if you are prepared for a long term commitment. You feel the same emotions and ask the same question over and over again, you even talk to your friends about these issues because you can't make up your mind. The one night stands are not interesting anymore, even getting drunk and acting like an idiot seem really stupid. Going out 3 times a week has become exhausting. You take a better look at your job and maybe you are not even close to doing what you dreamed of doing. Or maybe you are looking for a job and the thought of having to start from the bottom scares you even more. You try day after day to understand yourself, what you want and what you don't want. You opinions become stronger. You take a look at what everyone else is doing and then you find yourself becoming more judgmental, you list f stereotypes keeps getting longer. In the end you worry too much about 'who' decides what's right and wrong. Sometimes you feel great and invincible and other times- just lonely afraid and confused. Sometimes you try to hold on to the past, but then you realize that the past is moving farther and father away from you and that there's no choice but to keep going forward. You worry about the future, loans, and money.. and constructing your own individual life. While winning the race would be great right now you're only conforming to the rules of the competition. What you may not realize is that all of use who are reading this right now identify with all this, with being '20something' Al of of use are in our twenties and we would all like to be a teenager again. Back to that age where we didn't have responsibilities. All this looks like an unstable place, a moving vehicle, a mess in your head. But EVERYONE says it's the best time of our lives and we shouldn't waste it because of our silly fears. Then they say that these years are the foundation of our future. Only yesterday it seemed as if were 18 years old. Then tomorrow we'll turn 30!!! Just like that, as quick as the snap of a finger!

LIFE IS NOT MEASURED BY THE TIMES YOU BREATHE, BUT BY THE TIMES THAT TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY!

Now, I know that I only just turned 20, but I really just loved this article. But now I'm off to Rome for the weekend, check for updates at the beginning of next week! Miss you all!