What a time to be alive.
Oftentimes, when the phrase “midlife crisis” is thrown around, many think of our parents making impulsive decisions, like buying a fancy sports car or quitting a job to pick up an out-of-character hobby.
But for millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, a midlife crisis looks a bit different.
In a viral Instagram video, NYC comedian Mike Mancusi summed up perfectly what those born between 1981 and 1996 are feeling right now in their mid to late 30s.
First, he said millennials can’t afford the traditional solutions, like buying a new car “or starting a new family,” so they book a trip to Disney to relive simpler times of their childhood.
The second reason a millennial’s midlife crisis is different is that older generations would normally view this uncertain period as a time to look forward, but “ours has been built off of looking back,” the 35-year-old explained.
“They would look forward and go, ‘Wow, I’m going to be old someday, I better live it up.’ We look back and go, ‘Wait a minute, I was told to do all these things, I did them and still I’m not happy and that is a way different crisis,’… what’s making us freak out is that we were told the blueprint to follow. We all followed it. Here we are unfulfilled…”
He very bluntly went on to explain how “This winds up manifesting as a career crisis where people go ‘I’ve been working at this thing for the last 10-15 years, I don’t even like it, have I ever liked it?’”
For those who are nodding their heads in agreement, Mancusi suggests, what probably any mental health expert would agree with: Find something that’s for you.
“It’s not to make you money, it’s not to please your family, it’s for you. Something that you’re drawn to that you absolutely love to do every single day. Find that thing and build it into your life…” he advised.
This advice resonated with many, as one fellow millennial wrote, “This is great advice!! Feeling this hard,” with another chiming in, “I never thought of it that way — that we may spend more time looking back vs looking forward! That really lands with me.”
