Turning 25 freaked me out.

Logically, I knew 25 meant nothing but that didn’t stop me from worrying about it, nonetheless.

I joked about turning 25 for months before my birthday came and went in March, warning my friends and family that I was quickly approaching “my QLC” or quarter-life crisis, a term that has become quite popular among twenty-somethings.

A quick Google search of the phrase bring up thousands upon thousands of results, everything from funny BuzzFeed articles to serious news articles to an entire section on The Huffington Post dedicated to the topic.

Although it sounds ridiculous, the feelings behind a QLC are quite real. For the past few years I’ve been plagued with many of the same questions, worries and fears I’m sure my friends and fellow twenty-somethings are facing:

• Why don’t I have a boyfriend yet? Some of my friends are married. Some even have BABIES.
• I wish I could travel more. What if I just packed up, hopped on a plane and traveled the world?
• Should I continue living at home or buy a place of my own?
• Am I on the right career path?
• Forget career path, am I even on the right LIFE track?

The list goes on and on…and the fact of the matter is that asking these questions and feeling these anxieties is totally normal. In fact, I’d be slightly worried if I met a person in their twenties NOT asking some of these important questions.

Enter Paul Angone’s newly-released book 101 Secrets for Your Twenties. Paul was nice enough to invite me to be part of his launch team, so I had the opportunity to read and review the book before it came out.

If you’re feeling a little lost in your twenties (and let’s face it…who’s not?), I’d encourage you to pick up a copy of 101 Secrets for Your Twenties.

Because Paul tells it like it is in an easy-to-read, almost blog-like format. The book is broken into 101 chapters, some as short as one paragraph, others as long as three to four pages. Each chapter is a secret; a little life-lesson on how to get through your twenties.

From chapters on how to make friends in your twenties (harder than it sounds!) to the perils of dating (ugh) to adjusting our personal timelines (note to self: do this), Paul shares his wisdom in a matter-of-fact yet gentle big brother-esque way.

I loved the book, but more importantly, it made me realize something:

We need to change our thinking. A quarter-life crisis is not a bad thing. In fact, it’s an OPPORTUNITY. 

Life in your mid-twenties is actually an incredible time to EXPERIMENT; to experiment with new career paths, activities, people, places and experiences. Get lost, get uncomfortable and get gutsy.

So change your thinking. Stop calling it a quarter-life crisis and instead, call it a quarter-life opportunity.

And when you do that? Maybe things will start to look a bit clearer, after all.

Have you ever experienced a quarter-life crisis? If so, what are some ways you’ve dealt with it? Share your stories in the comments below.

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