“I had my midlife crisis in my 20s.”

Savvy smart Alexa, is only twenty-five and already trying to figure out how to get to the land of Enough.

Our parents had a plan for their twenties and thirties so by the time they reached their forties and fifties they wondered what they had been doing the past twenty years. What was the meaning behind it all? These days, by the time we reach our late thirties or forties we’re settled. We don’t have to go through the questions our parents went through at forty and fifty because we did it in our twenties and thirties. We spent that time figuring out our passion, what we wanted to do as opposed to following an already prescribed plan.

When I was in college, my roommate and boyfriend kept asking “What do I want to do with my life?” and I didn’t get it. What do you mean? I knew what I wanted: I wanted the corner office, the power suit. Three years later, I’m working at Arthur Anderson and I’m miserable. And then I got it. My life had no meaning. It took me ten years to figure out what I wanted my purposes to be.

The fact that we’re having these crises in our twenties and early thirties means that we’re much happier, much heartier in our late thirties and forties. We’ve already had to think those things out. And now I can say forty is fabulous. Yes, I’m still looking for the land of Enough, but I feel comfortable where I am. That doesn’t mean that I like every day or everything I do but there is purpose and meaning to much of it.