6 Reasons Why Your Early 20s Make You Feel Unworthy To the World

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1. You’re not a child or teenager anymore, but you are technically an adult.

Most adults don’t realize that, though. They view you as this immature … thing that’s more resembling of a child. And this can make you feel like complete crap. The thing with adults is, they’re downright weird. You think once you become older that there are no more cliques or anything of the sort, but the truth declares otherwise.

Adults don’t see you as part of their “clique” until you’ve secured a full time job, are married and have a place of your own. Like, excuse you for not fitting in. Try not to worry so much about what adults, or even anyone for that matter, think of you. They were all your age once, and they all undoubtedly had the same twenty-something angst you’re going through now. Just do your thing, and you’ll eventually see it was nothing to worry about.

2. You’re in that awkward stage of not having any type of direction for your life.

You’ve graduated college and have a degree under your belt, but you’re positive that what you majored in isn’t really for you. You feel at a huge standstill because you think that you should be progressing easily now and you’re just, well, not. You become panicked that you have no other skills or talents and you begin to wonder if and when you’ll ever secure an at least decent job. The thing is, that’s totally normal for this period in your life.

Society makes you feel that you’re expected to have everything under control when in reality, you’re just rushing things. Slow down. Take a breath. You’re only human, and you’re sure as hell not supposed to know EVERYTHING right now. For Pete’s sake, you’re only, what, 23?

3. On the other side of the spectrum, you know what it is you want to do, you just can’t seem to find a job in your field.

It feels as though life just had you to eat and vomited you back up, totally rejecting everything that you are. Like, nobody wants you even though you’ve been killing yourself with the resume writing and job applications and interviews. Let me tell you something. This is 100% normal as well. It in no way means that every employer out there doesn’t want you working for them. It simply means you just haven’t found your perfect fit yet.

It’s like going to a shoe store with all of the various styles and sizes of shoes; you know your size and what style you want, you just need to find the right pair. And just like you would in a store, you will in life.

4. You begin to notice that your friendships aren’t really the same.

Day by day, nothing seems to change, yet when you look at the bigger picture, everything stands out plain as day. What happened? Just as life does, things and people change. Everything changes at some point or another. And when you’re in your early twenties, friendships most definitely apply. Your friends, just like you do, have their own ideas of where they want to go in life, what they want to be doing and who they want to be around.

The hard truth is that theirs is not always going to be the same as yours. It doesn’t mean your friends don’t love you anymore, it just means that they are finally beginning to embark on their own journey in life. The sooner you begin to accept that, the easier life will become for you.

5. You begin to panic that you haven’t found Mr./Mrs. Right.

Alright, listen here. If you are reading this that means that the title probably caught your eye and your age spans from 20 to 25. The average human life span is approximately 80 years, give or take a few. If you are 22, you have lived less than 28% of your entire life. Why the hell are you worrying about settling down with someone this early in your life?!

You’ve barely even lived yet! Your twenties are actually designed for you to explore, discover, adventure and most importantly, fuck up. Yes, you read that right. You’re supposed to not have any definitive plans or commitments right now, if I didn’t make that clear in #2. So honestly, you need to go out there and stop worrying that most or all of your friends seem to have their lives “together”; you actually have no idea.

6. Your own emotions are creeping up and scaring the hell out of you.

I’m not just talking about those annoying little bursts of pre-menstrual feelings that occur once every month. You have legit worries, fears, anxieties, stresses, tensions, etc., and you’re on this huge emotional rollercoaster that you can’t seem to disembark. You overthink everything, and I mean everything from what you ate for breakfast this morning to what you said to the bank teller. You begin to wonder if you’ve made the right decisions in every aspect of your life and what this or that person thinks of you because of it.

You start to believe you have no real purpose. You wonder if where you’re at is making you truly happy, and all you want to do is curl up into a ball and stay bedridden for the next couple of days. Please understand: you are not alone and this is normal. Do you know how many times I’ve felt any and all of these things? Try at least once everyday! But do you know something? You will never stop feeling and having these types of emotions.

It actually only gets worse as you grow up, and harder to control. How do I know this, you may ask? Well how many adults have ever told you plain and simply, “don’t grow up”? Exactly! Things really do only get crazier, so take my advice and bask in the sanity you still have left. Life is an emotional rollercoaster, and your twenties can definitely vouch for that, but I promise you, if you take time to enjoy it, it is so worth it.