Life Crisis or Quarter Life Crisis?

So for those who are close to me such as family and friends, you will all know recently I received quite the shock and was thrown a massive curve ball. I won't state on here what it was but let's just say when you are going down what looks to be a very nice clear path but along the way you stumble along dodging the various obstacles but everything is fine - you are still standing (If not a little worse for wear) but you begin to get very tired and worn out. However, just when you start to see the light at the end of the path, and pick yourself back up you then come across a massive road block and no matter how hard you try to challenge this road block to let you pass, you are denied. 

Not one to give up you then seek some friends to see if maybe more than one person can challenge this road block but alas the answer you keep getting is no - turn around and find another path. Arghhhh frustrating hey? 

But you know what those friends who offered their help have helped make you or in this case me feel supported and encouraged me to not let this defeat get to me but to see it as an opportunity to try another path and see where this takes me.

However, this has got me thinking and talking to friends of my age. Is it okay to keep trying new paths? Is there any real harm in this? You are always lead to believe from early on that it is good to know the path you want to follow and all you need to do is just ensure that you pass all the necessary steps to get you on this desired pathway and you will be rewarded with a life of happiness and success. So what happens when people don't know what path to take but try out different ones like a buffet of paths if you like?

The problem I struggled with is that I felt I had already sampled a couple of different ones and just found a path that I could see set me up for life. It was a path with challenges and opportunities that would stretch me, keep me on my toes and allow me to grow as a person. So when this path was abruptly stopped I panicked and immediately started to self-analyse, what did I do wrong? Maybe I was never meant for this path? What if I try a similar path? Will I equally face a road block? Is this a sign that I'm destined to not succeed? On and on my mind goes....it's exhausting!

So when I got talking to a friend about this situation that happened to me recently and how I was now fearing the unknown, (as the future has become something I'm fearful of rather than it excite me) I explained how I'm not sure what I need to do right now to create a life that will ultimately make me as happy as can be (I mean I'm realistic enough to know life is not always a walk in the park). It was then reassuring to hear this friend state that they too, although settled and happy on their path, have also begun to question if this is the right path for them. This friend also informed me that other friends of theirs have also had this discussion with them and all are of a similar age.

So it got me thinking...is this just a normal thing to start fretting over as a 24 year old? or does age not come into this and everyone at some point will face a version or type of life crisis and start to question everything they are doing or want to do?

I just don't know.