What happens when you’re too young for a mid-life crisis but too old for a quarter-life crisis?
Though Wikipedia defines quarter-life crisis as a period “ranging from the late teens to the early thirties,” that seems a bit of a stretch. Once you reach thirty, it would only really be a quarter-life crisis if you planned on living until 120. I don’t.
Quarter-life crisis sounds like the just-graduated from college, can’t find a job, moving back in with the parents kind-of thing. This is not that.
My mid-20s were actually okay, if rather by the book. Graduated from college; went to grad school and added some letters after my name; was employed full-time; got married; had a baby. Check, check, check. I have a lot to be grateful for, and yet . . . .
I’m pretty sure I’m too young for a mid-life crisis (though my ailing body might disagree), but I’m definitely feeling some serious ennui. “One-third-life crisis” lacks the ring of the other two terms, but it fits better than anything else I can think of.
Employment
Not sure I should even get started on this one. Suffice it to say that what seemed like a fulfilling field with good job prospects back in 2004/05 is not so much. Add having a spouse in the same field, and you’ve got double trouble.
That path to an M.D. that seemed so long and life-sucking in college? Ha! At this point in my life, if I’d gone with my original medical school plan, I would have finished med school, finished my residency, and been a full-fledged doctor. Oh, hindsight!
We’re tossing around the idea of one of us going back to school for something with more job security (and higher compensation). Two career contenders are physician assistant and optometrist. Both would involve significant time and money for schooling, which is hard to consider at this stage of life, with a young child, other life interests and financial obligations, etc.
A less-drastic step that might lead to better job prospects in the public health field would be one of us going back for additional coursework in biostatistics.
However, none of that sounds as interesting (or as unrealistic) as my current [one-third-life crisis] goal . . . .
Being Pink (the singer, not the color)
Last week, I wasted a significant amount of time on my newfound obsession with Pink. While I didn’t actually watch the Grammy Awards, I saw the video of her performance (which included aerial acrobatics and some very athletic dance moves). This led me to seek out other videos, as well as general information about Pink and her career. You know, typical internet stalker stuff. My research led to two conclusions: 1)Pink is awesome, and 2) I want to be her. No, really.
Pink is actually a few years older than me, so, theoretically, I have a bit of time to get my [nonexistent] singing / performance career to where hers is now, though it turns out her acrobatic dance moves didn’t come from nowhere; she was a pretty serious gymnast when she was a kid. (I think I did gymnastics for about a year — does that count?) On the other hand, she apparently trained for the aerial acrobatic portion of her 2010 tour in 6 weeks, with an additional 3 weeks of training for her 2013 tour. If I had 9 weeks to do nothing but develop my skills with professional trainers, who knows?
But in reality . . .
. . . I’m probably just going to chop off a bunch of my hair and try to figure out whether or not I’m going to P-A school. Oh, and maybe buy a house.
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Anyone with me in this one-third-life crisis boat? Or been there recently? What are you struggling with and/or what changes do you want to make?
Her Green Life 
Hang in the Melissa, something will come through. I just emailed you with some possibilities so check your inbox.
Got your email, thanks for that and the encouragement 🙂 Short-term, we’re okay since Matthew will be getting back to FT, and I still have my PT gig. But his new job feels more like a bandage, and we still need to address the larger, long-term issue of whether one of us should change career fields.
Well, like you I recently decided to modify my career field. I have been a labor and delivery nurse for nine years, finally this past summer I made the decision to pursue my dream of being a midwife. Call it a one-third life crisis, sometimes I think I have just lost my mind. Working full-time, three children under the age of ten, a husband, a household, 2 Girl Scout troops, soccer, and I am taking a double course load to finish my BSN in 1 year instead of two-in order to start my DNP program in August. All you have to do is set your mind to it, you can do anything (not trying to sound cliche). Although a lot has changed since high school, you were one of the smartest/determined people then,I’m sure that has not changed!
Dawn, I’m not sure when you’ll sleep, but that is great that you’re pursuing your dream! Good luck on your path to becoming a midwife.
Perhaps part of my current issue is that I don’t really have a big goal that I’m excited about working toward. In school, I always had something I was trying to achieve (namely, getting good grades to get into a good school and receive a scholarship). I need to find some new motivation.
I’m so there! Mine stemmed from the 1st of 3 miscarriages (the first from an unplanned pregnancy… you don’t know what you want until someone takes it away from you), and what evolved was me
1) going from hating dogs to wanting a bernese mountain dog, and taking up dogsitting
2) wanting to buy a cottage, or a house
3) still trying for baby (which I originally didn’t plan to think about until I owned a house and had a good career (neither of which we have now)
luckily the hubby is very supportive and patient, although he hasn’t caved to the dog yet, we’re house shopping and trying for #3
Ready, I’m sorry to hear about the miscarriages. It sounds like you are contemplating some big changes. While some planning can be good, to make sure that you can provide for your kid(s), if we waited until we were exactly where we wanted to be career-wise, a lot of us might end up never having kids. A patient and supportive spouse is worth so much — good luck with everything!
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