1. Find Yourself

This is your summer. It is your time to find out who you are and what your purpose is. Take each day for what it is, and do not look back. Try new things. Take risks. Time is precious and this could be the last summer or the last opportunity you get to find out who you really are, so do it. This summer is the summer of you. The time is right and make it yours. Live with no regrets.

2. Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

A wise person once said, “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”. So let your life begin and go to the end of your comfort zone. Be fearless and let your voice be heard. Do not do the same old thing each day when you open your eyes. Take life by the hand and only look forward. Leave the past in the past and check new things off your bucket list as each day comes and goes. Honestly, it probably will not be easy stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something new, but I can promise it will be worth it. Don’t just step out of your comfort zone, leap out of it. Run out of it. Sprint out of it, and just keep going. Make this summer the best one yet.

3. Take a Chance

No matter what, take a chance. Do things you thought you would never do before. Sometimes opportunities are only a one time thing, so take it for what it is. Act on every chance that comes your way. Do it now. Sometimes, later is not an option. Take a chance on yourself. Take a chance on love. Take a chance on that guy down the road. Take a chance and make the first move. You might lose a few things along the way, but I promise you that the gain will outweigh the losses in the end.

4. Keep a Journal

Write down how the days come and how they go, and include everything. Write down the good stuff and the bad stuff as well, because it will all matter to you in the end. Each memory will add up and create the person that you are by the end of the summer, so include it all. Describe the way the sun shines on your hair and the way the water sparkles with every wave that crashes on the beach. If you keep a journal you can learn to see yourself as others see you. Most importantly, keeping a journal will let you look back and see how important some people and moments are in your life, and even better than that, it will let you see how irrelevant some mistakes you made were, and how little you need the negative people in your life.

5. Take Pictures

Document every moment. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and that is absolutely true. Years from now when you went to remember what exactly it was that you did on that Friday during the best summer of your life, you will have all of the candids to look back on. The waves at the beach, the sun rising in the sky, the smiling faces of you and your friends, living life to the fullest. You will have all of those memories piled up and stories to tell when they somehow may have slipped your mind otherwise. Thinking about the future, when you have kids someday, they will want to know what you did for fun when you weren’t working hard in school or filing papers at work. They will want to be able to point to the pictures and ask you the names all of those in them, so make sure you are able to do that. Take pictures, and take lots of them. You will not regret it.

6. Read Books, Lots of Books

Reading is a lost and forgotten art, and I believe that it is one of the best ways to escape the world we live in when times are tough. Read and read often. No matter where you go, bring a book with you. If you are hiking, sitting by the pool or road-tripping with your friends, bring a book. Books can help you think about things in a different view and see the world through the eyes of another. Reading builds our intelligence and exposes us to many new words, ideas, places and opinions that we have never thought of on our own. Reading is a way to escape, it is a way to take a break from what is going on inside our own heads and tap into those of our favorite characters. Reading does not make you nerdy, and even if it did, who cares? Nerdy is cool. Reading is like dreaming, and it makes us feel magical. Read this summer and let yourself be overcome by this magical feeling.

7. Live Like There is No Tomorrow

Live life like this summer is your last. Do not spend the whole summer worrying about tomorrow. Live in the moment and take each hour as it comes. Don’t spend your days thinking about the future, because it is not promised for any of us. Do things that you have always wanted to do, and even some you haven't. Just live. The most important thing you have to do with your precious time this summer is do what makes you happy. When summer comes to an end, the only thing that matters is if you can look back on your memories and say “ I had the best summer ever, and I spent it making myself happy”. Live this summer like there is no tomorrow.