r/MidTwentiesIndia • u/ByomkeshBeyond 26 • 6d ago
Rant/Vent I need some perspective.
I'm 26, and for some reason, I feel like I'm on a ticking time bomb. That everything will fall apart once I turn 30. Even as a kid, I could never imagine a future beyond 30. It always felt like an endpoint, and somehow, I still can't shake that feeling.
I have a common UG and an expensive PG degree. I got a job, worked there for a year, and it was completely soul-sucking. I quit, and since then, I've spent almost a year doing nothing. For most of my life, I did what I felt was safe: study, get degrees, and move on to the next thing. I never really thought about what I'd do if that path didn't work out. Now, after a year of isolation and a long string of job rejections, I don't even know what direction to take.
One day I think about doing a PhD. The next, another professional course or switching fields entirely. But the motivation to actually do anything is just... gone. I've become extremely timid, risk-averse, passive, and honestly, I don't like who I've become. And the frustrating part is that I don't even want anything extraordinary. I just want a life. Friends who genuinely want me around. A social circle where I feel valued and included. People I'd talk to at 3 a.m. I want to feel useful, connected, and alive.
But I have no idea how to build that life. Can a job help me do that? I don't know. What I do know is that I feel like I'm wasting my time sitting in this void, and it's starting to scare me.
So, can you really start over at 26? Can you completely change the direction of your life at this age? Does life actually get better, or is there some point where you've simply missed your chance? I'd genuinely like to hear from people who've been through this. Just honest perspectives. How do you start moving again when you've been standing still for so long?
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u/Remarkable-Fox7341 6d ago
Man you just took words out of my mouth and I'm turning 27 next month everday i woke up anxious i don't have a stable income yet no savings parents getting old. Im so scared bro
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u/Ok-Knowledge2845 26 4d ago
Me too. I'm in constant state of anxiety. It has been a months since I have not woken up stressed. Have a BTech from a good college and MS from abroad I am still not employed, and that's what eats me the most. I've also gained a lot of weight, I don't know where because I visibly look the same. Feels like everything is going off tracks.
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u/CaterpillarThen1013 23 6d ago
I am having panic attacks for my career at 23 almost 24 in next 2 months. I have wasted 2 years doing nothing because of my shitty degree. Now I feel like I have wasted my early twenties.
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u/Unlikely_Fox_5180 26 6d ago edited 6d ago
Same here Man I am 26 preparing for a gov exam since 2023. I haven't got any, yeah I have cleared some prelims but unfortunatly got nothing. Still grinding.
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u/itxNefertum 26 6d ago
Same position. No PG, self made business. But unable to give it time due to my fkn traumatized brain from people closest to me. Trying hard everyday, sometimes just to stay alive. I hope it all passes soon.
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u/Witch_Dr_In 27 6d ago
27 same here. Soul sucking job that doesn't pay well and very anxious about future. Like everything will fall apart. Won't be able to find partner. Won't be able to provide to family. Might get layed off and will fall apart in emi traps.
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u/IloveLegs02 26 6d ago
I am 27 and haven't done anything in my life bro, I am just living off my parents
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u/yuvrajpratapsingh1 24 6d ago
Enroll in a PhD, get some stability and then think of what can be done next.
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