It would seem that my life can be measured in quarters. My tasks at work can be neatly compartmentalized by which three-month increment they appear on the calendar. This approach keeps the long-term goals in focus while not overlooking the tasks of today. One can get an entire year down to a science and make the daunting look almost trivial. It is a false illusion, but hopefully we will have rolled through the trials and tribulations long before that fact becomes apparent.
I often apply that same approach to my personal life. You can rationalize anything to absurdity; all as one big distraction to make tough times seem trivial when stacked against the next big thing on the horizon. The first quarter of your life is spent trying to escape the limitations and setbacks of childhood. The second is spent making progress towards ultimately defining your role in society while making sure to avoid the pitfalls of the hapless travelers ahead of you. The third, if the journey has taken most of the right paths, will lead to a pinnacle of accomplishment and recognition. The fourth would then be to maintain the dignity and respect earned from that achievement.
But there are inherrit flaws in this notion of splitting life into quarters. Chief among them is that they are not equal parts, neither in timetable nor significance. It also does not allow for the cruel truth that some will never move beyond the first or second, perpetually stuck in either escaping from childhood or never finding that which completes their identity in society. Perhaps it is better to think of them as acts in a play, where no two performances are ever the same, even as the predetermined script remains constant.
The quarter-life and mid-life crisis can then be thought of as reconciling the previous quarter with the expectations set at its beginning. The 23 year-old is likely coming to terms with whether he or she has conquered the heartache of childhood. The 43 year-old must grapple with the notion that whatever it is they are doing now will be what comes to define their short existence on this planet. I am not aware of a three-quarter life crisis, but it would likely be along the same lines of an assessment of what his or her life will mean when their time on earth is through.
Until then, all we have are prayers and patience.