The Mid-Youth Crisis Survival Guide
We’ve all heard of the mid-life crisis. Maybe it manifested itself in your dad running away to Canada with Marsha from Human Resources. Or when your Aunt Sally bought that baby blue convertible because everyone in book club had one too. No matter how it shows itself, a mid-life crisis is essentially questioning everything you have done in your life up until that point. What people don’t talk about as much is the mid-life crisis’s younger (and just as serious) little sister, the mid-youth crisis.
A mid-life or a mid-youth crisis isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes all that results is self-improvement and motivation to try new things. What makes them dangerous is that usually, they involve deep introspective moments and comparison with your peers, which can lead to feelings of low self-worth, low self-esteem, and regret. Of course, these usually aren’t permanent and there are ways to get rid of them, but they can take a serious toll on your mental well-being.
If you find yourself feeling defeated, lost, panicked, or a little too drunk for a Tuesday, it is possible that you might be in the midst of a mid-youth crisis. I am well aware that I am not a guru and most of the time I have no idea what I’m talking about. However, I have had my fair share of dangerously introspective moments and I am working through a mid-youth crisis myself. So, I know a bit about how to cope.
Here are some things that I tell myself or do to get through these moments:
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Put your blinders on. My friend Angela from choir once said this. Basically, stop with the comparison. You, as a human being are born with the same amount of worth as everyone else and will die with the same amount of worth as everyone else. Your worth as a human cannot be increased or decreased by the amount of A’s you get, the number on the scale, or by how many times your phone lights up with a notification.
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Meditate. There is a reason that every self-help book says something about mindfulness or meditation. It’s because it works!
3. Use your resources. Regarding the situation, there might be much more going on than just a mid-youth crisis. Maybe an emotional problem started it or maybe it started an emotional problem, Either way, there are plenty of resources you can use to start being content with yourself – as you deserve to feel.
Here are some things you can do:
- Call your mom
- Practice self-compassion
- Confide in a friend
- Therapy (For Augustana’s Counseling Services: http://www.augustana.edu/student-life/student-counseling-service)
- Treat yourself
4. Remind yourself that this is all part of the human experience, and it is only temporary. There are so many ways to cope and get through this to find out where your path really lies. Sometimes you just have to go through shit to be the shit. It’s all a process.