C is for Conflicted
So, something I’ve noticed amongst my fellow late 20-somethings: we’re all looking to move on to The Next Big Thing, whether that’s marriage or kiddies or a white picket fence. I think something happens to you after college; somehow Big Life Change becomes addictive. Once things start settling down, once you become comfortable with the previous change, some sort of intuitive bell rings inside your head signaling “Next!” and you feel that if you don’t hurry up, you’re going to fall behind.
I’m sure there’s all sorts of scientific, psychological theories that provide a more academic description, but someone standing in the middle of the storm tends to see it in a more matter-of-fact way then someone 100 miles away in Doppler radar centre.
I think a lot has to do with money. By mid/late 20’s debts are starting to be paid off and a lot of us have garnered our first chunk of substantial savings. People seem to be divided into two groups when it comes to what to do with those savings.
Group A:
“I should spend this money on equity - houses, RRSPS, cars, etc. - purchases that will get me ahead in the game of life, that will get me ready for my next Big Life Change.”
Group B:
“Yay! Shiny toys! Disposable income! Wheeee! I like things.”
For some reason, it’s incredibly hard to be in group C: the inbetweeners. We start moving one way, then the other, when really, we should just be happy being C.
C is for consuming moderately.
C is for careless spending on weekends.
C is for cool. Or possibly confusion. I haven’t decided which.