12 Things You DON'T Need to Do by 25 (Or 30)

Look, I liked The Bucket List as much as the next person—as in, watching Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman is a fine way to pass the time on a long flight. But it seems like we've become a society a little too obsessed with to-do lists and deadlines. I can't open a magazine without seeing a spread titled "735 Things to Eat Before You Die" or "15 Guys You Need to Bang Before Settling Down." I never fail to read these stories because it fills me with so much anxiety that I simply must find out what more I haven't done yet. But with all the eating and banging, I'm going to be exhausted (and probably a little overweight) by the time I reach that mythical age when there's nothing to do but await the sweet release of death (so, like 36?). I wonder: Am I creating these bucket lists because I really need to or because I'm a slave to a timeline and the myth that we're all Cinderella, dreading the moment we turn into poorly dressed pumpkins? And I'm not the only one plagued with the Cinderella syndrome. My Facebook newsfeed is filled with status updates about the goals and deadlines of my peers. One especially obnoxious, self-congratulating status update had to do with "riding a bike past the Eiffel Tower at night and living in a barn by the time I turn 25." What? Why do you need to be in your early 20s to do those things?

Enough already. We're not Cinderella; death isn't imminent at age 30; it's okay if you haven't gotten to everything or even most things yet. So here's a bunch of stuff you don't need to do by the time you're 25. Or even 30. Or even ever, if you so choose.