So, in this age of constant and limitless opportunity offered to us by the internet, what exactly should we do with ourselves?
This is a difficult question, and it is this question that is responsible for the rising phenomena that is the Quarter-Life Crisis. The younger generations are breaking under the pressure previously felt by people in their 50s. The Mid-Life Crisis came on when you looked back on your life feeling you wasted half of it, and missed every opportunity you had to make something better of it. So you anxiously try to do something different, for fear of running out of time.
Twenty year olds nowadays feel the pressure from their family, friends, and society, to do something ‘worthwhile’ with their future. So they find solace in the only place they know they don’t have to fear external and unwanted expectations, they don’t have to change who they are to ‘fit in’. And that place is the internet. YouTube. Tumblr. Alternative websites like Collective Evolution. We are secretly hoping we somehow find a way out of all this mess. That somehow, somewhere, we will find a person, a video, a phrase, that triggers an idyllic revelation, and will tell us exactly what we have to do.
There is one secret, that is not-so-secret, that will let us find the answer we are searching for. And it is inside each and every one of us. It is our intuition. Our inner voice. Our gut-feeling. Whatever you wish to label it. We all have it. If we tune into this voice, we will never go wrong. It will guide us exactly where we want to go, it will make sure you always go after what will make you safe, happy, loved and fulfilled.
The tricky bit is blocking out all the external voices, the external expectations that cause all the pressure. These voices can be very loud, very firm, and they surround us every day. Learn to recognise them with patience. Ask yourself: why am I doing this? Why am I thinking this? Why am I feeling this? Is this my voice? Or is this someone else’s voice? Analyse the causes and the consequences of every major decision you have made or are being faced with. Was it made out of love? Or was it made due to pressure? Did I tell myself to do this? Or did someone else tell me to do this? Is this what I want to do? Or is this what someone else thinks I should do?
We are lucky we can use the internet as a tool to connect with people who are going through or who went through exactly what you are going through right now, as an added form of support. Do some research to prove to yourself that it is possible to be different and do things out of the ordinary. Only by being out of the ordinary can you become extraordinary. Learn to trust yourself. Trust your intuition. It will guide you. It will make you do things you might never have done. And it will feel right. When you have that feeling, never let it go.
Remember, the whole world is changing. And because we are children of this earth, we are changing too. Accept the fact that as a whole, everything on this planet is moving on to something different. By doing so, you will accept yourself, and you will allow your inner voice more room to speak out.
When it does, trust it.
