Decrypting life one day at a time

To all the 25-year-olds struggling

Hi. I am Akanksha. Your regular, boring and depressed 25-year-old. I think I have finally reached the age where I can say "I am having a quarter-life crisis" without people giving me the side-eye and saying "Aren't you a little young for that?" I am the prime example of having a shitty life then shutting down haters by being successful again and then falling back down so hard that it is near impossible to pick myself back up again. I am living proof that life is not how it is shown in the movies. You don't have a shitty life and then hit the jackpot and then you have your happy ever after.

If anything this year has taught me, it's patience and humility. Things I probably didn't bat an eye towards are things I wish I had right now. I value things much more than I used to. And I have done more self-reflection than ever. 2023 was a traumatic year for me. I messed up badly and let other people ruin me too. I have finally started to pick myself back up again and have the tiniest bit of hope that everything will get better. It will, right? (looking at you 30+ year olds)

I had many dreams that I wanted to fulfil by the time I was 25. I think I am not even halfway through. I hate that I let some people in my life derail me from my path but if I am being completely honest, things had to happen the way they did for me to finally open my eyes and realise what and who is worth it. But at the same time, I am also grateful that I fell now and not in my 30s.

Back when I was in my teens, I used to think that 20+ year-olds have their whole life together. They are young, independent and happy. Took me half my 20s to finally understand that is not necessarily true for everyone. In fact, we are all just pretending to have our life together but we all have our internal battles. For me, the 30s are the 20s I imagined as a teen. And I think it is mostly true because of what I heard people in their 30s say. Less than 5 years to go. Yay?

I am very curious to know what other 25-year-olds have going on in their life. 3 years ago we all were in the same boat. Graduating, getting a new job, excited about the life ahead. Now, some of us are married, some breaking up after 5+ years of relationships and some are still single. Some of us are out getting our masters, some are getting laid off and some are successful as hell in their careers. Fascinating, isn't it? I have finally started to understand how the world works and it isn't easy at all. It feels like I was born just yesterday and was living in some fantasy for all this time. The reality has finally hit and it is not pretty at all.

I can't give you much detail on why I feel so down but... I have seen a lot. Just know that. Of course, things could always be worse but this right now is too damn hard already. That's all on my mind today. I will share more as we go through this journey. The sole purpose of my writing this is to take my thoughts out of the journal and maybe find someone who is in the same boat as me and help motivate them to be... better? I don't know. What I do know is, we all need to take life one day at a time when it does get overwhelming.