Quarter Life Crisis: Lost, Broke, Confused but Still Alive

 Hey, have you ever stared at the ceiling at 2 a.m. and thought, “What am I doing with my life?” If the answer is yes, welcome to the club. Many of us in our twenties are stumbling through this thing called a quarter life crisis — and it’s not as dramatic as it sounds. It’s just… real.

We spend years in school hoping it’ll make things clearer. But the moment we graduate, life suddenly feels like a blurry mess. We might land a job that doesn’t match our degree. We might earn just enough to pay rent and grab cheap coffee, while our friends post photos of their weddings, fancy trips, or shiny new houses. It’s weird how we can feel genuinely happy for them and painfully insecure at the same time.

People will say, “Don’t compare yourself to others.” Sure. Good advice. But have they tried it lately? It’s hard when we wake up and the first thing we see is everyone’s highlight reel on Instagram. We know it’s just the surface, yet we forget that there’s always a messy backstory behind those perfect pictures.

And so we start questioning everything. Did we pick the right major? Is this the career we really want? Are we behind? Should we be getting married now? Should we go back to school, quit, move abroad? The questions get louder, but the answers? Not so much.

Some of us are still at the platform, unsure but moving.

Here’s what we need to remind ourselves: it’s okay to be confused. Seriously. This messy stage is part of growing up. We’re caught in that awkward spot where we’re expected to be independent but still wish we had the safety net we used to have. We crave adventure but still need our comfort zone. We want to live our best lives but — hey, those bills won’t pay themselves.

It doesn’t help that society loves telling us to “make it big before 30,” as if there’s a finish line we’re all supposed to reach at the same time. But whose timeline is that, really? We each have our own path. Some of us move fast, some of us take the scenic route. Neither is wrong.

So what do we do with this crisis? Honestly, we need to stop beating ourselves up for not having everything figured out. It’s normal if our career goal shifts, if we want to try something new, or if we just need to pause. Moving forward doesn’t have to look like a big dramatic leap — sometimes it’s just taking a small step without losing our minds.

And maybe we should remind ourselves to check in on each other more. When was the last time we asked a friend, “Are you really okay? Do you want to rant for a bit?” Because sometimes what we need is not a solution, but a safe space to say, “Yeah, we’re tired. We don’t know what we’re doing. And that’s fine.”

So if you’re reading this and you feel like you’re stuck while everyone else has it together, trust me — you’re not alone. You’re not failing. You’re just figuring things out, at your own pace, in your own messy, beautiful way.

One day, we’ll look back and realize this confusing chapter made us braver and stronger than we ever thought we could be. Until then, let’s keep going, one unsure step at a time. We’ve got this.