Question
At age 20, why do I have this feeling like there's no more time left? How do I deal with it? Am I having a “quarter-life crisis”?
Answer
I have no idea why others are rushing to reassure you.
I'll answer your main question instead of the question details which seems to be mainly about the problems of what is being called "emerging adulthood":
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/2...
Your sense that there is no time left is at least partly accurate. To take a trivial example, your height is unlikely to increase.
Realistically, you really DON'T have time left for several things, like certain kinds of mental and physical learning, the freedom to be in all-play-no-work mode (even if you are a trustafarian who doesn't need to work, most of your friends either already are, or will soon have to).
You also don't have much time left to morph your personality in any deep way. In future you may be able to project personas very different from what you're actually like, but the inside personality is mostly set. Your opinions, politics etc. may shift around a bit, but your basic traits are set and will at most get a little more mellow/blunt as you age.
You've pretty much become who you are. Even if you don't know exactly what that is yet. Figuring that out is an annoying chore to be finished in your 20s. I recommend drinking instead.
Deal with it. Life is about watching one door after another slam shut every year, with an accelerating pace.
The good news: you can't walk through multiple doors anyway. All you need to do is walk through ONE good door at every decision. It doesn't matter how many good ones are shut at any given time. It matters how many good ones are still open.
I'll answer your main question instead of the question details which seems to be mainly about the problems of what is being called "emerging adulthood":
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/2...
Your sense that there is no time left is at least partly accurate. To take a trivial example, your height is unlikely to increase.
Realistically, you really DON'T have time left for several things, like certain kinds of mental and physical learning, the freedom to be in all-play-no-work mode (even if you are a trustafarian who doesn't need to work, most of your friends either already are, or will soon have to).
You also don't have much time left to morph your personality in any deep way. In future you may be able to project personas very different from what you're actually like, but the inside personality is mostly set. Your opinions, politics etc. may shift around a bit, but your basic traits are set and will at most get a little more mellow/blunt as you age.
You've pretty much become who you are. Even if you don't know exactly what that is yet. Figuring that out is an annoying chore to be finished in your 20s. I recommend drinking instead.
Deal with it. Life is about watching one door after another slam shut every year, with an accelerating pace.
The good news: you can't walk through multiple doors anyway. All you need to do is walk through ONE good door at every decision. It doesn't matter how many good ones are shut at any given time. It matters how many good ones are still open.