Our parents might say that a Quarter-Life Crisis is just another excuse to be lazy, serial date, or complain about our jobs. Little do they know, it’s a real thing. No, you didn’t make it up. More and more research supports the existence of this existential identity crisis. A Quarter-Life Crisis can show up in many ways: feeling lost, confused, insecure, perpetually unsettled. It can also be that wonderful situation of being overeducated and underemployed or the constant pressure of needing to be successful at whatever ventures we undertake. We’ve heard our parents say: “by the time I was your age I was already married, had purchased my first house, and had my first child.” How are we supposed to feel after hearing that?

What if we looked at this time as a transition period instead of a crisis? This is the time where we are really figuring out who we are in the “real world.” We no longer have the structure of school and are expected to snap into this new role with no hesitation- ya right. It takes time to adjust. It takes time to explore this newfound freedom. 2016 is not 1950: it is no longer the norm to graduate and get the one job you will have for the rest of your life. Humans today are living longer than ever before; this means that we have even more time to figure out our lives. This freedom is a gift, though it so often disguises itself as pressure. The next you feel pressure to “get your shit together” or “settle down,” I invite you to reevaluate and focus on the freedom.