1. Swim in the ocean naked and just let your lady parts float about. It feels really good.
2. Put a streak in your hair, or dye all of it. Even if you hate it, it doesn’t matter — the fun is in the thrill of it.
3. If you have long hair, cut it short. It’s just hair — shit grows back!
4. Forgive someone. Remember, forgiveness isn’t for the other person, it’s for you. So even if they’re a dick to you after you dig deep and forgive them, you know you’re not wasting energy holding a grudge.
5. Travel alone. Wake up early and see things that will blow your mind. Sleep in late and give zero fucks about wasting the day away.
6. Eat dessert for breakfast. Ice cream is amazing when you wake up in the morning and are burning up from your comforter/heater/boyfriend.
7. Offer to pay for a date and actually do it. It’s remarkably empowering.
8. Book a massage after you’ve had a really stressful day. When you’re there, stare at the floor and think about nothing.
9. Eat a huge piece of cake (or candy bar or ice cream cone or whatever your favorite dessert is) and feel wonderful about it. Not bad. Not fat. Not guilty. Wonderful.
10. Go out for a meal by yourself. Order a glass of wine and read a book. Write in that journal you keep meaning to update. Be glad you’re not on an awkward first date like those people sitting next to you.
11. Complete some sort of physical challenge. Run a marathon or a 5K or enter a triathlon. Or just learn to do a push-up.
12. Take a kickboxing class. No matter what’s going on in your life, you can probably always envision something you want to punch or kick the shit out of.
13. Quit that job you hate. Job quitters are the happiest people. Life is too short to spend it in misery counting down the hours until you can go home and complain about your day to your cat.
14. Live alone. Be naked in your kitchen for no reason. Make a huge mess. Have your own glorious closet. Come home at 5 a.m. and make a hot pocket in the microwave. Go to bed at 8 on a Tuesday without interruption.
15. Go on one or more spontaneous adventures with your best friends. A road trip to the beach. A weekend in Miami in the dead of winter. Or just ditch work and meet up for fro-yo.
16. Don’t work out for a week. Who cares.
17. Splurge on something you really, really want. Once in a while, it’s OK!
18. Make a whole cake for no reason other than to sit there and attack it with forks alone/with your roommate/boyfriend.
19. Have a pet. Pets love you unconditionally. And they can’t say the wrong thing when you’re upset.
20. Go to a Beyoncé concert. Bask in her talent and feminist message. Enjoy the hardcore fans closing their eyes and lifting their arms in the air while she sings “Resentment” as though they are having a religious experience.
21. Run away from something driving you nuts. Sometimes you just need to spend a weekend sleeping and drinking wine in front of the TV at your parents’ house rather than face whatever nasty music is bugging you back home.
22. Buy lunch for someone who is just starting out and needs to save the $10 more than you do. When they’re wildly successful, they’ll remember how you bought them lunch and bestow the favor on another young upstart.
23. Take the time to get a few special photos or prints professionally framed and matted, even though it’s pricey. You’ll use them in every apartment you ever live in and you’ll feel happy every time you look at them.
24. Learn to like some stuff you’re pretty sure you didn’t. This could apply to anything from whiskey to a boss.
26. Do something that scares you at least once a year. Go sky-diving or zip-lining or ask your boss for a raise. Or quit that job you hate. Or take three months off to travel. You won’t regret it.
27. Cut out friends you don’t really like. Don’t spend time wondering whether or not you made the right decision. Just be done with the assholes who bring you down and don’t look back.
28. Have sex with someone who is totally wrong for you but is just hot as all fuck. Do it like you’re in an erotica novel. You won’t want to talk to the person anyway so have so much sex with him you won’t even have time for it.
29. Speak in public. Toast your friend at her wedding or take on the big presentation at work. Once you’re done with it, you’ll feel so satisfied and accomplished.
30. Spend more money than you think you should on a vacation. You can splurge on a few $16 poolside cocktails when you’re on a tropical beach in the middle of February and still save for a down payment on a house.
31. Try new foods. Especially ones you thought you’d hate. (A lot of it really does taste like chicken anyway.)
32. Just completely lose it at customer service when they’re being dicks. And if that fails, tweet them. Airlines give the best customer service on Twitter, weirdly.
33. Spend an entire day eating nothing but crap. You never crave kale, just admit it.
35. Be a “regular” somewhere — a restaurant, a bar, a bookstore. It’s one of those things everyone is envious of in sitcoms. Just incorporate it into your life and enjoy feeling like you’re on the cast of Friends.
36. Go through a “slutty” stage. A great time to do this is after you dump someone who treated you like garbage.
37. Go through a totally monastic stage. A great time to do this is after you’ve boned a lot of dudes and are over dudes.
38. Test out your weirdest, darkest sexual fantasy. Barring anything illegal or potentially life- or health-threatening, just shamelessly 50 Shades it and have a blast.
39. See a therapist — even if it’s just once. It’s amazing to have someone listen to your problems. Even if you have no major issues, it’s still nice to get unbiased feedback on whatever’s on your mind.
40. Throw yourself into a hobby. Like horseback riding or tennis lessons or trivia night. If people ever ask you what you’re into on a job interview or something, you’ll feel pleased to have an automatic answer.
41. Wallow in a heartbreak. Allow yourself to do all those generic breakup things like eat ice cream while watching rom-coms, and going to some trashy da club to dance wildly and make out with guys.
43. Shamelessly go to a concert everyone will make fun of you about. Dance like a crazy person while you’re there.
44. Date someone who is totally “wrong” for you. Because most people you date won’t be right for you. So you may as well get some fun stories and unique experiences out of it.
46. Try a really, really good bottle of wine. Treat yourself, girl. You might discover you enjoy the difference between the $50 bottle and the boxed stuff you and your roommate drink with Orangina and straws.
48. Learn to make one full meal. Even if it’s just one simple homemade dish, you should know how to feed yourself if you’re ever in a position where you can’t obtain takeout or a frozen pizza.
49. Take a risk at work, even if you’re worried it might make you seem insane. Think of the most successful people you admire. They all regularly take risks that make them seem insane until everyone agrees their insanity is genius.
50. Go somewhere with no cell phone reception for at least a week. Experience the tranquility of life without the anxiety of constant messages and status updates.
(via Cosmopolitan)
