Why It’s Totally Normal To Be Lost As F*ck In Your 20’s

 

Twenties

It seems like there’s a universal mantra that we should all have our sh*t together by the time we get in our 20s: and that we should graduate college and know what we want to do with our lives and our careers; that we should fall in love and have our fairy tale wedding planned out; and that we should have our solid group of girlfriends to fall on and have our list of bridesmaids ready and mapped out; that we should have our 5 year plan stapled to our foreheads; and that we should know what we want to do with our lives and how we’re going to do it.

 

To be honest, it’s all just bullsh*t.

I’m 24-years-old, and I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing with my life. Sure, I have a plan – I have a job, I’m in graduate school, etc. But, for a while, I was freaking out about it. I’m still freaking out about it most days – but I’m slowly starting to realize that not having it all together is okay – actually, it’s normal.

 

Why do we feel such immense pressure to have our lives all sorted and figured out in a neat and picture perfect timeline? Why do we feel like we’re never doing enough and we’re not good enough at this stage in our lives?

 

Social media perhaps?

People spend more time on social networks and social media than they do doing anything else during the day – eating, working, going to the bathroom. It’s no wonder that we’re always pinning ourselves up against other people – destined for failure in the self-worth department.

 

If You Were Born Between 1977-1985, You’re Not A ‘Millennial’ Anymore, You’re A ‘Xennial’

Millennials get a bad rap for being entitled, lazy, immature, obsessed with selfies and social media, and so on. They’re associated with the rise of the internet and smartphones and resulting cultural outcroppings of these technological advancements. But generational distinctions are imprecise and subject to debate, and what we typically consider to be Millennials actually contains a subsection of somewhat older Millennials that are culturally distinct from their younger brethren.

Sandwiched between Gen-Xers and Millennials, ‘Xennials’ are typically classified as those being born between 1977 and 1985. They’re a microgeneration that copes with the clash between Gen-X’s cynicism and Millennial optimism.

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Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996 and Gen-Xers were born between 1965 and 1980. The term ‘Xennial’ to describe the generation on the cusp of the two first appeared in GOOD magazine as a way to define the older Millennials who shared a different experience than the rest of the generation growing up.

According to Notable Life,

The term is a solution to recent complaints by “mature millennials” that they don’t feel as though they fit the avocado-eating, Snapchat-loving mold of the endlessly dissected generation — but also don’t really remember the first Star Wars movies.

Xennials had an analog childhood before riding the digital wave into the 21st century. Xennials were fully aware of the shifting technological landscape, going from a time when the internet didn’t exist, to suffering through the dial-up era, to embracing the latest social media platforms. They were also in early adulthood during the September 11th terrorist attacks, while many Millennials were still in elementary and high school.

Xennials are also called “the Oregon Trail Generation” because of how widespread the educational game was in the “cutting-edge” computer labs they had in elementary and high school.

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There are plenty of things Xennials remember that are just fuzzy memories to Millennials. Things like pay phones, landlines, and sitting through countless 1-800-COLLECT commercials.

The landline wars were intense until cell phones came along, and Xennials remember having to talk to their friends’ parents on the phone before reaching their friends. Call waiting and extra phone lines were godsends for the Xennial generation.

And watching Jurassic Park in theaters and memorizing Clueless.

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Mean Girls may be the defining women’s movie for Millennials, but Xennial women grew up watching Clueless on repeat at slumber parties. And the cutting-edge computer-generated dinosaurs in Jurassic Park were truly revolutionary on the big screen. Goonies, Heathers and Dazed And Confused were also seminal Xennial coming-of-age movies.

Being a little too old for Pokémon and Neopets.

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These pop culture phenomena took off a little too late to get Xennials on board.

Getting that first clunky cell phone in their teens or 20s that was “for emergencies.”

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Ah, those indestructible Nokia phones! Before Temple Run and Candy Crush, Xennials killed time by trying to beat their high score on Snake.

Coping with T9 texting was a real struggle for Xennials.

Sure, Millennials are the generation that turned texting into an artform, but Xennials were the pioneers who had to really work to make texting happen.

And connecting with friends on AIM changed Xennial social life.

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Online chat application like AOL’s Instant Messenger and ICQ allowed young Xennials to socialize online for the first time.

Looking things up in encyclopedias, and later, Encarta is an experience every Xennial remembers.

Xennials went to school before web-based reference sources like Wikipedia, and many still remember having to use the card catalog at the library.

And the hole in the ozone layer and acid rain were the most critical environmental threats.

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Before global warming reached a boiling point, acid rain and the hole in the ozone layer were some of the biggest man-made threats to life on earth.

Xennials will remember when this was the hottest boy band around.

Xennials loved Back Street Boys and N’Sync, but the New Kids On The Block were the original boy band.

And trying to hit “record” at the exact right time to snag the song of the moment off of the radio to make your crush that mixtape was a Xennial thing.

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Well before MP3s became a thing, CDs were a welcome change for Xennials, who grew up with cassettes and top-40 radio stations that had actual human DJs.

Also MTV showed mostly music videos.

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Today, MTV hosts a raft of original programming, but Xennials remember a time when you could tune in to MTV and either see a music video or a VJ introducing one.

And the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase and double murder trial divided America on racial lines.

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It was called the “Trial Of The Century” and helped launch the Kardashian’s father to fame (or infamy). News coverage of the double murder trial was non-stop and his acquittal rocked the nation.

Xennials also remember when Columbine was the first and only shocking school shooting.

Wikipedia

Long before the current epidemic of gun violence plaguing U.S. schools, the mass shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado shocked the country. Ask a Xennial and they can probably tell you where they were when they heard the news.

40 Things Every 90’s Kid Will Miss Forever

40 Things that all of us 90’s kids will miss forever.

1. This haircut


2. Picking the colors for your braces


3. Tattoo necklaces


4. Writing and passing notes


5. Buying stuff from Claire’s


6. Piercing your ears at Claire’s


7. Anything Spice Girls

8. Nintendo


9. Capri Sun


10. Decorating your locker


11. Pokemon Cards


12. AOL Instant Messanger


13.  Nelly


14. Hey Arnold!


15. Best friends necklaces


16. Singing the intro to Bring it On: “I’m sexy, I’m cute! I’m popular to boot!”


17. Glitter gel pens


18. Bandanas


19. Listening to the The Baby One More Time and Genie in a Bottle Albums on repeat


20. Corn rows


21. Feeling really cool wearing your new Adidas shoes


22. TRL


23. Ring Pops


24. Predicting your future on MASH


25. Rapping the The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song

26. Full House 


27. Abercrombie & Fitch


28. Justin and Britney


29. Limited Too


30. Titanic


31. All the Slangs. “Whatever”


32. Boy Meets World


33. Renting a movie from BlockBuster


34. One shoulder backpacks


35. Your furbie


36. Butterfly clips


37. Crushing on Justin Timberlake 


38. Destiny’s Child


39. Jenny from the Block


40. Unreplacable high school films like 10 Things I Hate About You 


Header Image Source 

??? Click here to see these 90’s Hearththorbs: Where Are They Now? 

??? How many of these awkward college moments have you had? (girls only!)

60 Phrases Only 90’s Kids Will Know

There’s no question: the 90’s was one of the coolest decades ever!

If you were a 90’s kid, chances are you’ve said at least one of these phrases:

  1. N’sync over Backstreet Boys

  2. Girl power

  3. “Have mercy!??

  4. I’ll be Mary Kate you be Ashley

  5. I forgot to feed my tomagatchi

  6. “Who loves orange soda???

  7. “Bop it, twist it??

  8. I double dog dare you and no chicken

  9. Look my sneakers light up too

  10. “Dear Ashley, thaaats me!??

  11. Have you seen my pencil case?

  12. What’s your screen name?

  13. My furby will not shut up

  14. You have cooties

  15. *On the phone* “Hi this is [your name] is [friend’s name] there???

  16. Don’t make me snap in z formation

  17. Step on a crack, break your mother’s back!

  18. Ask the Magic 8 Ball

  19. Light as a feather stiff as a board

  20. I have all the “Chicken Soup for The Soul?? books

  21. *At the grocery store* “Can I have a quarter for the toy machine?

  22. Ch-ch-ch-chia

  23. Who’s on the phone? I’m trying to go on the internet!

  24. Go into the bathroom and say “Bloody Mary?? three times

  25. I want to be ______ Spice

  26. Britney is better than Christina

  27. What color did you get on your mood ring?

  28. Let’s play M.A.S.H

  29. My automatic seatbelt is not working

  30. Someone put the wrong c.d. in this case

  31. “Go Home Rodger??

  32. I forgot my Neopets login, again

  33. I got it from Claire’s

  34. My walkman is skipping again!

  35. “Loser loser double loser, as if, whatever, get the picture, duh??

  36. Take a picture, it lasts longer

  37. “Fe-he-he-heeeny??

  38. I want to be a Camden

  39. “Zetus lapetus??

  40. “Boys go to to Jupiter to get more stupider. Girls go to college to get more knowledge!??

  41. *While playing manhunt* “Stop babysitting the base!??

  42. Let’s play outside

  43. “Concentration 64 no repeats or hesitations??

  44. Can I have money for the Scholastic book sale

  45. “I spy with my little eye??

  46. Do you want to get a best friends necklace with me?

  47. I call being the red Ranger

  48. “Kowabunga??

  49. “You’ve got mail??

  50. What. Ever.

  51. Wanna trade pencil toppers?

  52. I want to see inside the kaleidoscope

  53. I’ll be Mario, You be Luigi

  54. It’s not a skirt, it’s a skort

  55. “U-G-L-Y you ain’t got no alibi you ugly ya ya you ugly??

  56. UGH! I have to rewind the movie

  57. They could have both fit on the door

  58. “Talk to the hand cause the face ain’t listening??

  59. *Sung in tune* “Baby bottle pop??

  60. “Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids??

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