How to navigate through life in your twenties (since apparently my generation thinks it’s hard)

I sincerely hope that, as a generation, we can come up with something better than ‘The Selfie Stick’. We’re competing with the invention of planes, trains, computers and cell phones – but come on, guys. It’s no wonder Forbes is worried that we’re a bunch of “self deluded narcissists”. As revolutionary as it may be, ‘The Selfie Stick’ (seriously. Google it.) is not all we’ve come up with. We’ve also coined the “quarter-life crisis“, because when we aren’t busy taking Snapchat selfies or Instagramming pictures of our non-fat soy lattes, we like to whine about how hard it is to be young and faced with a world of opportunity… “But I can’t find the job I want”, and “This isn’t what I went to college for”, and of course, “All my friends are getting married, I’m going to be alone forever!”

Evidently my over-dramatic generation has taken it upon themselves to make being in your twenties sound like some sort of disease. Some people are actually calling this “Quarter-life crisis” thing an epidemic? You guys realize that, like, our great grandparents generation didn’t even go to college, right? They worked. And nobody asked them where they “wanted” to work, because most of them didn’t get to decide. And I bet they didn’t whine half as much as we do. When you put it all into perspective like that, we really are being a little over-dramatic, don’t you think?

Anyway, in case you’re stuck on the struggle bus when it comes to navigating through life in your twenties (since apparently my generation thinks its hard, for some reason), here are some tips and tricks (ie: quotes I found on the Internet) from some famous people. Because famous people always know what to do, right?

“There are worse things than being 35, single, and female in New York. Like: Being 25, single, and female in New York. It’s a rite of passage few women would want to repeat. It’s about sleeping with the wrong men, wearing the wrong clothes, having the wrong roommate, saying the wrong thing, being ignored, getting fired, not being taken seriously, and generally being treated like shit. But it’s necessary.” – Candace Bushnell

“I spent my 20s focusing on my career. I dated a lot and it was fun, but I wasn’t ready to fully commit myself to another person. It was my selfish decade. Even still, I didn’t make the deadline I had set for myself of becoming a network correspondent by 30.” – Katie Couric

“When I look at my 20s, or when I look at any period in my life, I think about how much time I’ve wasted trying to find the right man. It’s like, if I could go back and do it again, I would have taken guitar lessons or something. I would have put my energy into something that paid off in the end, instead of trying to improve myself for men. Oh, the time and the energy, trying to impress somebody who was actually a big jerk.” – Amy Adams

“I wouldn’t want to be 20 now. I know so much more, and I’m much more comfortable in my skin, saggy as it is… When I hear young girls complaining about superficial things… You’re at the peak of your physical beauty right now! Just enjoy it and stop worrying about your thighs being too big… If you’re upset with how you look at 25, life’s going to be tough.” – Susan Sarandon

“20-somethings have the tendency to imagine that their 20s are the last chance they’re going to have to experiment, explore, and party. This is a false premise. Restaurants and cafes continue to let people over 29 through their doors. They even serve them alcohol.”  – Holden Desalles

“You’ll be fine. You’re 25. Feeling [unsure] and lost is part of your path. Don’t avoid it. See what those feelings are showing you and use it. Take a breath. You’ll be okay. Even if you don’t feel okay all the time.”- Louis C.K. 

“Your 20s were for ‘ducking up,’ as my auto-correct would say, and learning from those mistakes. Now you get to live with that knowledge under your belt…I’m hitting a major milestone: 30, or as I like to call it, the Cut the Bullshit and Go Be Awesome stage.” – Olivia Wilde

“I thought I knew everything about love and relationships in my 20s. The ignorance of youth is bliss. As you get older, you start to realize that you don’t really know anything and life is a great traveling journey. Life is unexpected…you just never know what’s going to happen.” – Reese Witherspoon

“All I’m saying is that when you’re in your 20s, it’s easy to sit in your ivory tower/ seventh story walk-up apartment and talk about what you’ll want in ten years. There are plenty of things I never thought about wanting ten years ago that are very important to me now. Health insurance, for one… It just seems shortsighted when people are like: ‘Of course I don’t want kids. I have red wine and/ or Xbox and 1,300 Twitter followers, and that’s all I’ll ever need.’ I’m keeping my options open.” – Josh Gondelman 

Don’t hesitate to keep your options open, fellow twenty-somethings. And don’t worry so much! Why are we feeling sorry for ourselves? We’re YOUNG. This isn’t the 1800’s anymore, people live past the age of 35 – so if you’re single, unemployed, or worried because you don’t have kids yet – calm down. The average lifespan is, like, 80 or something – so I’d say we’ve got plenty of time. It’s not like we’re thirty yet.