Life is hard. It can be made better.

1. Put away ten things in the messiest room of your house. Just ten. There's no pressure to do more.

2. Take an actual, real-life bath. With bubbles. Or just shower.

3. Go to that place that makes you feel safe and at peace. You know where it is already. We all have somewhere that feels a little like home - our home country - even if it is that convenience store that smells like childhood or that one beach up the road.

4. Drink a bottle of water.

5. Read some poetry out loud.

6. Visit a church or park during school hours. Spend some quiet time outside of your house.

7. Offer your assistance to someone and assist. Open doors.

8. Turn off the news. It's not helping. Someone will tell you if a tsunami is coming.

9. Wash your face.

10. Walk around your neighborhood without listening to music. Listen for wind and for birds and for dogs.

11. Remind yourself that it is okay to only do half of the things on your to-do list.

12. Call someone up and ask them to listen to your favorite album with you (this works really well in a car).

13. Go to a local track and do some sprints.

14. Figure out what tattoo you would get if you were to get one (or another one). This will tell you so much about what you value.

15. Read a book you've borrowed from a book lover. They will certainly be excited to talk about it with you.

16. Make a playlist of all of the songs that make you feel alive, and listen to it. Consult your music people.

17. Find out how your artist friends do it.

18. Ask for financial help from a different grown-up. Honestly, most people either underestimate or overestimate how financially literate/stable they are. Reality is sometimes a cold comfort, but knowing is far better than wondering.

19. Meditate.

20. Make a spot on your budget for "fun money." This will do two things: it will deal with spending guilt (since the money is explicitly for splurging or treats), and it will help curtail over-spending.

21. Start to find out where you're "impossible" really is, and work with it. Sometimes, I beat myself up for not doing things that are simply not within my power, and other times, I give up early. Both of these things are happening way less often now that I am more familiar with my limits. Of course, there are always surprises.

22. Find rewards that work. Blended coffee after exams or finishing papers works for me; buying new shoes after tests, not so much.

23. Take a college class just for fun (for those of us who can start feeling stagnant).

24. Get better friends.

25. Respectfully detach from people that drag you down, even if there is no "falling out." There are people who are exhausting. Even if you love them deeply, you may not be able to love them well in person, or often.

26. Donate to a charity you believe in. You donation can be in time.

27. Do that awful, no-good task (like laundry) you've been avoiding.

28. Go to bed at a decent hour. Find your body-rhythms with regard to sleep.

29. Allow your doubt to inform, not vanquish, your faith.

30. Ask someone who loves you well to tell you one thing you can do to love yourself better. Do the thing. Repeat.