My Newfound Quarter-Life Crisis

I don't know about the rest of my generation, but right now at 26 years of age I'm going through what appears to be, through rabid research and thought, a quarter-life crisis. I look around and I see people I went to school with pregnant, walking around with kids, and married, mostly all at once. I see expensive looking diamond rings on the female's fingers, and gold bands on the male's fingers and think to myself, "Man oh man I must be oblivious to where I should be in life right now". I know that I have an excuse, if you want to call it that. Having a somewhat mental disorder does qualify as a good enough excuse to not be at that same level as everyone else but still, it would feel great to have an inkling of hope. Women and relationships are tough to come by, especially great women and loyal women, and women that will not look past you and overlook what your life could look like with you. Same comes to employment, not having a good job and a secure job makes everything less meaningful and life less meaningful. Going to school is one thing, but with the economy the way it is right now and no timeline given of when things will be back to where they were in the golden years, school is just school, there is no guarantee of great employment after you graduate. Now that I am in the child care field and will be looking for some kind of child care employment after I get my Associate's degree, it turns out it will not be that easy due to the fact that in a couple years (in 2012) the state laws will be wanting all child care workers to have a Bachelor's degree or higher. Not only is that another obstacle added to a young person's life, but it is just more steps you have to follow and more hoops you need to jump through. Things are at a standstill right now, and hopefully they do not stay that way and things get better, and since I'm an eternal optimist, they will. I'm not the only young person my age in my generation going through this I'm sure. Is anyone else willing to admit that they feel this way too? How do you deal with it? Perhaps some advice would be the best strategy right now.