Life Crisis as Millennials

“The grass is always greener on the other side”

Getting through life as millennials is not easy. Confused on what do we want to do in life, battling whether to gamble in trying to earn money online or settling for a minimum wage job, baffling whether to fight for your childhood — unrealistic — dream or just following ordinary path as an adult. If that is not conflicted enough for you, let me give you the last one — the conflict that every millennials in the 21st century face — whether to save money to buy a house or to move to another country and start a new life.

Classified as Generation Y — we are the Generation that face transition from Generation X to Generation Z. Meaning that we are in the front line of the 4th industrial revolution, where technology is changing the way we live our life. This, though seems very cool, it’s hard for us as millennials to get through mid-crisis, and here is why: too many options and not many responsibilities (in comparison with Generation X). I know you will think “wait a minute, there are many responsibilities and not too many options”, well let me tell you, you’re wrong. Our generations have so many options to live our life, and we are not obliged to things that our previous generations does. Now, you can argue with me on this but it would be a long discussion for another time. But if you think about it, what exactly is our responsibility as Generation Y, other than to earn money? Can you think of any? I don’t think so. The only responsibility we have is to earn money — and this what often be the foundation of our millennials life crisis.

Let’s say if money is not in the way, then you either feel depressed — or not sure what is the purpose of your life. You started to doubt everything you do and things you have done this past few years and think “what the f*ck am I doing with my life?”. You question your job, your career prospect, and although you make enough money for your living, sooner or later, if not happen yet, you will started to wonder “is this the life I want to live?”. Have you ever wondered why more than ever our generations have more mental health issues, and why do we questions all of this? If the one I said earlier does not come to your mind then let me remind you, it’s because we have too many options and less responsibilities.

The way Generation Y lives their life is very vary. The way we earn money is no longer the same like it used to be. 9–5 jobs used to be a must have item after you graduate from college. Buying a house in your 30s used to be a cool thing. But now in this generation, traveling around the world will be much cooler than buying a house, people no longer attracted to 9–5 jobs as there are more options to earn money in a less boring way. On top of that, we are battling with ideology, challenging status quo, no longer accept things that used to be acceptable. All of this — unconsciously — is making us even more confused, conflicted, and not having a foundation on what we should believe, perceive, and achieve from our lives.

Though, despite all of this, Generation Y is very lucky. Having more options does not mean that we need to do it all at once. We can consider all options, and maybe test the water for a while and see how each of the options goes for us, but we do not need to be good in everything or do everything that interests us all at once. We need to always remember that “the grass is always greener on the other side”. Whatever we do, we will always face difficulty, doubt, confusion, then makes us question our life and think that maybe, just maybe, it would be better if we do other things. Having more options can be dangerous if we just jump from one thing to another without finishing what we have started. But if we are careful, taking different options or paths of life will lead us to a brightly colored life.