6 Tips for Surviving Your Mid-20s

2014-01-25-yoga-thumbListen. Everyone’s been there, will be there, or is currently there. The empathetic “there” to which I’m referring is that scary, depressing place called Your Mid-20s. You know, that time in your life when you survive on homemade sandwiches, self-harm by way of Facebook stalking your friends who are “already successful,” and begin to question this whole idea that you should be passionate about your job. How about a gig that allows me to afford name brand shampoo? That’d really do it for me at this point.

Here are a few suggestions for getting through these dysfunctional years that we’ll one day look back upon with wonder as to how we ever took for granted our wrinkle-free faces, children-free schedules, and money-free jobs (<– see what I did there?)

1. Watch less-trashy television

Please don’t watch Jersey Shore spin-offs or anything that revolves around partying, fighting, or babies getting spray tans. Rather, find a show that inspires you to get off your butt and stop thinking that your capabilities peak at figuring out how to alphabetize a column on Excel.

2. Take the bus

Friends are important in this rocky stage of life. I mean real, live, in-the-flesh friends with whom you can laugh, cry, eat, and compare angst-filled stories. Facebook friends ≠ actual friends. Unfortunately, your actual friends probably live a considerable distance away by the time your mid-20s roll around. Taking a plane to visit them would cost somewhere around your entire paycheck, and train tickets are equivalent to two weeks’ worth of groceries. Driving has its own set of issues like gas, tolls, and parking — that is, if you even have a car. Life is too darn short to sit in your apartment every weekend, thinking about your office crush and having a wine date with your friend over Skype so that you’re not technically drinking alone. If they live 2-5 hours away, go see them. Yes, charter busses may feel like breeding grounds for who knows what kind of terrifying diseases, but it’s a good thing you have the healthy immune system of someone still in their mid-20s.

3. Walk more

I’m way less depressed about my looming car insurance bill when I am breathing in fresh air, safe from white walls and computer screens. I, like every normal person on earth, hate running, so I won’t tell you that it will make you happier. I’m sure it would, but walking seems like a much less aggressive piece of advice. Even if it’s just to Harris Teeter to pick up your Lean Cuisines, just quit getting in your car to drive a quarter mile.

4. Stop believing that spirituality is awkward

Trust me, I’m fully aware that we’re mostly exposed to three types of spiritual people: a) the overzealous, completely unrelatable Christian on Facebook who openly condemns you for your love of wine, semi-trashy T.V., and most of the things mentioned above, b) the quote-loving yogi-type whose flexibility allows them a sense of enlightenment that your corpse-like limbs will never let you reach, and c) angry atheists who are really, really mad at said Christians and yogis. Now, pretend none of those people exist. What do you believe? If it’s the Bible or the Quran, great, now what does it say? Will you do what it says? Do you want to read a history book about its validity? Maybe research something you weren’t taught growing up? Try praying. Try meditating. Try going to church. Seek. You will find.

5. Don’t text or drink and drive

Especially at the same time. This is how you survive your mid-20s. Literally.

6. Don’t take Facebook seriously

I don’t know about you, but I’m fairly certain that every person I know is engaged or pregnant. If they’re not, they have glamorous jobs as a fashion designer or news anchor, so who cares if they’re single. Also, everyone seems to have a lot of friends, nice clothes, and an awesome sense of humor. But that’s why I wrote this list. I know for a fact that my Facebook friends with stunning engagement rings, statuses that read “I’m so grateful to love what I do every day,” and pageant crowns on their heads are not, in fact, exempt from feeling like their worlds are sometimes falling apart. How do I know? Because they’re in their mid-20s.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shannon-oliver-/7-tips-for-surviving-your_b_4609957.html