The other day on my drive to work, I heard a deejay report on his segment, Four Random Facts, a morsel of useless information about something called a Quarter-life Crisis. I don’t even remember what the tidbit was because I was so damn annoyed.
I’m sure we all have seen, or even know someone who is having a Mid-life crisis. I don’t need to explain the details. That phrase and its connotation are like a bad song that I can’t get out of my head. It drives me nuts!
But a Quarter-life crisis? Are you kidding me? I don’t know what the criteria are to “earn” this title and I don’t care. It’s mere existence as a trendy catch phrase strengthens my belief that our society is fundamentally screwed up.
Both phrases make a broad and sweeping assumption. That is, that we know when our last day here on Earth will be. Therefore, we can predict various intervals or benchmarks of our remaining lives.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong!
Heart attacks, cancer, drug overdoses, car accidents, ALS, and diabetes take the lives of our family and friends from us. The list is endless.
What’s the quarter or mid-life point for a high school student who was murdered in a classroom? What’s the defining moment in life for an 8-year old who dies from influenza? Do you see my point?
I believe we live in a world where the majority exists in a status quo. The majority plot themselves comfortably near the peak of a statistical bell-shaped curve. The majority lives in and by the labels that society pins on them.
We need more “minorities” to make positive changes in their lives and the lives of others every day, not when they hit some theoretical milestone on a calendar.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Happy Thanksgiving (Day). Merry Christmas (Day). Happy New Year. Happy Fourth of July.
“Go ahead, be miserable, and live In-Crisis the other days of your life. Everybody else is doing it.”
Nope.
We may never have the opportunity to greet tomorrow. Today is our chance to make an improvement in how we live no matter how many birthdays have passed.
Do something which seems insignificant that’s worth celebrating. And do it today. You don’t have to buy the stereotypical Corvette to move from crisis to comfort. I’m begging you, please don’t!
We can choose to turn off the news and listen to two cardinals sing to one another from neighboring yards. We can bundle up with layers of clothes and spend time with our dogs outside because doing so would enrich their lives. We can refuse a doctor’s orders and stop taking a medication that our body tells us it doesn’t need.
I encourage you to embrace being different than the masses.
I am done ranting, and I’m going back outside to play with my dogs. And that is simple to do.
I want to be the person they believe I am.
Be Kind. Be Thankful. Be Significant.
Peter
