how many existential crisis-es are there

The morning you wake up and realize you don’t know the names of any of the women you’re sleeping in the pile with.
 
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-When you realize you've been wasting your life
That's not an existential crisis; it's a lifestyle. Proof? You're on the Kiwi Farms.

The first existential crisis you realize life is meaningles

The second existential crisis you realize youre not going to be anything special in life like the idols you worship.

Im almost done with the second.


What comes next

When you lay dying surrounded by people and you realize they're only waiting for you to die so they can get your stuff.
 
I don't know how many there are, but I'm definitely going through one right now.
I've genuinely wasted my life. Almost 28 and I've accomplished nothing.
You accomplished the arduous task of not dying, so even assuming you've legitimately failed all else (which is a tall order), you have already outperformed about 20% of the total population. If you keep it up to 65, that alone will put you in the top half.
 
You accomplished the arduous task of not dying, so even assuming you've legitimately failed all else (which is a tall order), you have already outperformed about 20% of the total population. If you keep it up to 65, that alone will put you in the top half.
That's one way to look at it I suppose, but I feel so unfulfilled that simply being alive doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment.

I'm in school right now and working towards an associates degree, but I've still got a long ways to go and I've been having a lot of doubts on the path I'm taking.
I just can't shake this feeling of emptiness and the feeling that I've wasted my life.
 
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That's one way to look at it I suppose, but I feel so unfulfilled that simply being alive doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment.
I'm in school right now and working towards an associates degree, but I've still got a long ways to go and I've been having a lot of doubts on the path I'm taking.
I just can't shake this feeling of emptiness and the feeling that I've wasted my life.
Setting aside the dead, in the U.S. roughly 35% of the population at that age has never been to college at all and 58% will never get their Associates or Bachelors degree. You're joining an elite class of people, surrounded by an elite class of people, and social opportunity comes from personal capability. If you're concerned you wont finish the degree, use your talents or develop your talents such that you can maximize your chances of being happy despite that- network, make a friend group, find good tutors or professors you can rely on to try and land a position or guide you to a better career, etc..
 
The first existential crisis you realize life is meaningles

The second existential crisis you realize youre not going to be anything special in life like the idols you worship.

Had the first in my teens to early 20's but I've learned there is meaning if you make or find it.

Going through the second right now in my early 30's. Kind of accepting it now a days, but it kills me is that I had plenty of opportunities to do what I wanted in my early 20's but squandered it due to my ego.

But like I said, I found my meaning and I've dialed my aspirations back to something realistic so I'm happy with myself.

Of course get back to me in 10 years when I'm in my 40's.
 
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Going through the second right now in my early 30's. Kind of accepting it now a days, but it kills me is that I had plenty of opportunities to do what I wanted in my early 20's but squandered it due to my ego.
this times the mass of the sun
reflecting on all the things you could have been had you just a bit more awareness when you had that early-20s vigor really stings. it's all gone now, never coming back. what's worse is that there's no point in even investing in my society (the US) anymore anyway as it's just one of rapidly increasing alienation from all sides. this alone makes me not want to have kids at all.
 
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I'm in school right now and working towards an associates degree, but I've still got a long ways to go and I've been having a lot of doubts on the path I'm taking.
I just can't shake this feeling of emptiness and the feeling that I've wasted my life.

What is missing that makes you think you’re unfulfilled? Is it a career related issue or a social one?

Are your doubts with school just frustration with the work or would you really feel better off without the degree? I can’t imagine that dropping out would improve that feeling of not accomplishing anything.
 
What is missing that makes you think you’re unfulfilled? Is it a career related issue or a social one?

Are your doubts with school just frustration with the work or would you really feel better off without the degree? I can’t imagine that dropping out would improve that feeling of not accomplishing anything.

It's a combination of the two. I'm working on a very limited part-time basis atm and looking for a new job, still living at home, and have pretty much lost contact with all my old friends.

The doubts with school are more so just worrying whether or not I'm going into a field I'll be happy with as a long-time career. They aren't huge doubts, because I think I will enjoy it, but they still exist.

I just don't feel good about where I'm at in life and I have a long ways to go before I'll be out of this hole. I've wasted so much time and I'm starting to feel the repercussions of it now more than ever.
 
this times the mass of the sun
reflecting on all the things you could have been had you just a bit more awareness when you had that early-20s vigor really stings. it's all gone now, never coming back. what's worse is that there's no point in even investing in my society (the US) anymore anyway as it's just one of rapidly increasing alienation from all sides. this alone makes me not want to have kids at all.

Ditto.

Personally, I can't help to notice lately how I spend all day at work thinking "when I get home I will begin x-project/start putting a plan together to accomplish y" only to immediately get home exhausted, sit on the couch with my better half and drink for the next 5 or 6 hours, ending everyday with "I'll give it my best tomorrow, I've got time" only to repeat.

Go back to 16-25 year old me, I'd be up after work, being productive still.

And I swear, when I entered my 30's I suddenly became best friends with my bed because of just how tired I am all the time.
 
The first existential crisis you realize life is meaningles

The second existential crisis you realize youre not going to be anything special in life like the idols you worship.
What are you, seventeen? Worshipping idols is a sure-fire way to fuck your life up; they're not real, you're not seeing the truth about them and you wouldn't really want to be them if you knew what it was like.

The next existential crisis is when you realize that your worldview is so tiny and irrelevant that it's laughable and your crises are entirely a product of your own delicate ego. The good news is that this isn't really a catastrophe; it's the start of actually growing up and becoming a functioning person.

Go get a mentor; somebody who can help guide you through the intricacies of life or a profession but whose achievements are something you can emulate or even surpass. Quit looking to fake people for guidance; there's millions of real people who can help you flourish.
 
When you fear death for the first time. I mean actually FEAR it. You realize that after this you will go back to nothingness perhaps for the rest of eternity and you will never experience any emotions ever again whether they are positive or negative.

Even if you do believe in the concept of eternal life, reincarnation or whatever you would still have to realize that after death you cease being "you" in the sense you are no longer human anymore, you are dead. This either brings you comfort, or existential dread.

This could also happen at any age, whether its 20, 50, 80, or on your deathbed.
 
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