Quarter life crisis anyone?

You may have heard of something called as 'Mid life crisis'. When people enter their forties, they suddenly begin to develop a feeling of dissatisfaction and resent towards themselves. They reflect back on their life and begin to wonder if things could have been a little better had they done something different in the past. They aren't satisfied with what they are now and how their life has turned out to be. It can be because of career, money, status, family problems, loneliness, guilt, some other reason or maybe a combination of many. Depression sets in and it grows and grows finally destroying their inner peace of mind completely.

What do you call when something similar hits you when you are in your twenties. Quarter life crisis? You are in your mid twenties having just graduated from a top college with a prestigious degree. You land yourself a job and are earning big money working day and night at a reputed company. Everyone around you is happy. You seem to be enjoying this new phase of life too.

But ...

Something just doesn't seem to be right. You ask yourself - Is this it? Is this what I will be doing for the rest of my life? You begin to question yourself if you are really enjoying what you are doing. What happened to the countless dreams you had way back in school when you were a small kid. Back then, everything seemed achievable. Where did all of that go? Maybe you wanted to be a musician, maybe an actor, maybe a scientist. You could have been anything. Back then, you were the brightest person you knew amongst your age. Goddamn! You could have done anything, right? And then you realize that you are not even close to what you had thought you would be.

And then frustration sets in. Life begins to suck endlessly. You shirk responsibility and your performance level at work drops. Enthusiasm reaches its lowest level and you become a living zombie. You drag yourself to your mundane chores not because you enjoy it or love it. No. You do it because you have to. Because that's what you have been doing and are expected to do. A sense of helplessness crawls in dampening your inner spirit and decaying your mind.

This is something, I am sure, many of us have been through at some point of time. All around I can see unhappy faces. You can sense the dissatisfaction on other peoples faces and wonder if you are amongst them. Scared, you peep inside yourself and you find that you are no different. What do you do then? Leave things as they are hoping that somehow life would turn out to be nice and that sooner or later, all those old ambitions would fade into oblivion. Maybe life would present you with something more fruitful than what you had previously aimed for. Everything's gonna be alright, you tell yourself halfheartedly.

Or do you choose the tougher path. Where nothing is guaranteed. There is a chance at every corner that you will flat on your face. That you will lose all what you have now. Maybe things get even worse. Society ridicule. Monetary problems. Pressure from family and friends. So many problems you may have to go through. Yes, if you succeed, there is no doubt you will be the happiest person in the world. But in case you fail, then what?

Its a tough call. What would you do when you fall in such a situation? Tell me.