Competition and Quarter-Life Crises

Post by sweetcheekz » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 7:16 PM UTC

pritovido wrote: post #26

I do not believe for a moment that this has anything to do with competition. I have lived in China and kids there are booked fully. Their parents sacrifice everything for their only child but at the same time they put a very high burden on them booking every space of their lives. Just letting the kids fool around, experience what interest them, play and make mistakes is inadmissible. Usually the parents work all day…

Post by beauzero » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 7:17 PM UTC

lowiqengineer wrote: post #10

I had my first quarter life crisis at 18, when I came to grips with the fact that I had accomplished nothing in my life so far, as evidenced by my lack of good college admissions - I graduated only 2nd in my class with just a 1500 SAT, which isn't good enough for top schools. Unlike OP, however, it was less of an aimless drift and more of an aggressive, angry depression. Had another one at 20, when I realized that no…

Post by Scalestein » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 7:26 PM UTC

rconti wrote: post #19

Part of becoming an adult is learning how to (be able to) do what you want. It's not an easy transition, from one of having your identity and goals shaped by others (family), and being released into a world where you define your own identity and goals. Maybe you'll be happy with your achievement graduating from a good college, and use that education to do satisfactory work and earn a satisfactory living, and pursue y…

Post by tafox » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 7:42 PM UTC

disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #4

blobbers wrote: post #2

There's not much here. He decided to compete against himself and made a list of self-improvement items? He complained about being directionless yet had some clear choices he could make. Cat? Grad School? Girlfriend? Sounds like this person needs a role-model and a mentor.

And that's ok. Like, he's in his early twenties. I upvoted this because the atmosphere of constant competition he describes is a relatively new thing (certainly I didn't experience it) and I'm interested to hear if other people of a similar age agree or have thoughts on this.

Post by tafox » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 7:46 PM UTC

j4nt4b wrote: post #20

lowiqengineer wrote: post #10

I had my first quarter life crisis at 18, when I came to grips with the fact that I had accomplished nothing in my life so far, as evidenced by my lack of good college admissions - I graduated only 2nd in my class with just a 1500 SAT, which isn't good enough for top schools. Unlike OP, however, it was less of an aimless drift and more of an aggressive, angry depression. Had another one at 20, when I realized that no…

Please don't hate yourself. Do you think the lie-flat seats bring joy? Do you know the plane's destination? In this example, I'd rather be the guy who skipped the airport and went fishing. If anything, you have a head start on understanding this. The others may feel as you do when they're 30, 40, 50 or older, and feel tremendous heartache for wasted time. There is a ceiling everybody reaches in competition, and the b…