Good morning, lovely dreamers, and welcome to another important life lessons article here on the Dreaming of Butterflies blog.
Even though the years have passed, Friends is still one of the best TV shows out there, and from time to time, when life gets rough, you can't help yourself but crawl up in bed and watch it.
"Friends" is still considered, to this day, a "blueprint to adulting in your 20's". In 10 amazing seasons, we've learned everything about life in our 20's, love, relationships, friendship, sarcasm and much more.
Being one of our all-time favourite shows, it was hard as hell picking up only 20 life lessons, but we did it!
But enough chit-chatting, let's get to it!
20 Awesome Life Lessons you learn from FRIENDS
1. About life
"Welcome to the real world. It sucks. You’re gonna love it!" - Monica
This is the first thing that came to our minds when we moved in together, alone, for the first time and away from our parents. It's the perfect "welcome" to receive as a young 20 something that finally moves alone.
Yes, real life sucks, especially at first when you have no idea what the hell to do, but it's true that you can't help but love it!
2. Your Friends are your family
"That’s right, I stepped up. She’s my friend, and she needed help. If I had to, I’d pee on any one of you!" - Joey ( when he tried to pee on Monica after she was stung by a jellyfish)
In good times, and in bad times, friends are always there for you. They support you, they help, they listen.
Phoebe: "Yeah, I definitely don’t like the name Ross."
Ross: "What a weird way to kick me when I’m down."
Even if you fight sometimes, you'll find a way to patch things up when it comes to true friends!
3. Sarcasm is good (and sexy!)
Ah, the King of sarcasm, Chandler Bing. He proves it's okay to be different, and that being sarcastic is something to be proud of! There are so many good moments of Chandler, it's so hard to pick only one!
Like this one:
Chandler: "Condoms?"
Joey: "We don’t know how long we’re gonna be stuck here. We might have to repopulate the world."
Chandler: "And condoms are the way to do that?"
Or this one:
Embrace the sarcasm in you!
4. Being quirky is fine
Phoebe is the embodiment of quirkiness. Period. She's fantastic, and weird, her life is a total adventure. What's not to love about her?
She proves to us that it's okay to be a little different because your friends will love you and there is "the one" for you that will simply adore you because of who you really are.
Plus, her confidence is priceless.
5. Communication
It's the most important in any relationship. It can make it, or break it. Remember the "we were on a break" fiasco?
Well, even though, in our opinion, Ross was totally right about that part, he still shouldn't have gone so far as to think that Rachel would actually do something with Mark when he heard his voice.
6. Relationships are complicated
From the whole madness between Ross and Rachel, and to their constant on and offs over the years... to the true love that grows between Chandler and Monica, you learn that the love life is not a fairytale.
In fact, it's a lot of work, you need a ton of communication and being there for one another is essential.
And in the end, it's so worth it!
7. There's no such thing as too much pizza
When you order pizza, always go for a Joey Special - two pizzas. And if those are not enough, go for another Joey Special... And another... Because let's face it, it's pizza. Need I say more?
Oh, and don't forget: Joey doesn't share food!
8. If you want something, ask!
Like when Phoebe finishes one of her gigs at Central Perk, and simply says: "If you want to receive e-mails about my upcoming shows, then please give me money so I can buy a computer."
That moment is priceless. Ask for what you want, you don't have to be shy. You might actually get it!
9. Don't be afraid to start again
When Chandler quits his job to pursue his true calling, even when he's not sure what that is. In your 20's is the perfect time to do that. Find your calling, and pursue it, even though that means you have to start over again.
Hey, if Chandler made it, you can do it too! You'll never regret it.
10. It's okay to channel your inner kid
Being silly, acting like a child, playing games - it's perfectly fine!
Embracing adulthood doesn't mean that you must kill off your inner child.
Goof around, relax, and break loose once in a while.
11. Hugs help a lot!
You might be sad, you might be happy, hugs say more than a thousand words!
As a curiosity of ours, if you know how many hugs are there in the 10 seasons between these guys and gals, please tell us in the comments! We really want to know!
12. Love yourself
"I'm curvy, and like it!" - Joey
When one of Rachel's sisters, Amy, comes to town and tries to make Joey feel bad for eating, but he basically shouts the perfect line: "I'm curvy, and I like it!" - that's the greatest moment of that episode.
Never let anyone make you feel other than perfect in your body.
13. Living with roommates
Having a friend as your roommate is perfectly fine - it saves you money, it's fun, and you also learn a lot about yourself and the people you share your living space with.
Yes, sometimes it's hard work, but you get through it!
But, Friends also taught us that you should NEVER ask a random stranger to be your roommate. You might end up with someone like Eddie. Remember him?
Source: Quora
Creepy!
14. Friendzone
Some people say that the first mention of the term "friend zone" is from Joey saying to Ross that he waited for too long, and now he's stuck in the friend zone.
But, the fun thing is, Ross eventually gets out of it! That teaches us that is never too late to get out of the friend zone. Yay! Courage, people!
15. Fail - it's ok!
From the big stuff, like getting fired or breaking up with someone you loved, to the silly little things like wanting to have great white teeth, and having an "accident", our friends taught us that it's all ok!
Life is not all smooth and easy, and it's perfectly fine to fail from time to time.
16. It's ok to not give a shit about people's opinion
That awesome moment when Phoebe and Rachel go jogging. It's so funny, even after seeing it like 100 times ( not kidding :) ). The fact that Phoebe doesn't give a single fuck about what people say, makes it all look so simple.
Why bother with other people's opinions if it doesn't make YOU happy?
17. Confidence + hard work = Success!
Rachel, and her transition from spoiled little brat without any skills, other than shopping, taught us that even if you have no idea "how to adult" if you are confident, want to do something and actually work (your ass off), you can achieve success!
18. Yes, life sucks sometimes
They all had their bad moments when life just didn't seem to get better. That's basically living in your 20's, and we're sure you can relate. But, you need to find the good part in every situation.
That's how you keep your sanity.
19. Grammar
We've said it before, several times actually, and we'll say it again. Grammar, people! Ross taught us the importance of grammar, especially when you are in a fight you want to win.
20. You need friends in your life
The biggest thing that Friends taught us is that you need good, reliable, quirky, funny, sarcastic and smart people around you. To help you grow, to understand you, to goof around together!
So get out and find those people if you haven't already! And if you did, go hug them!
This is our super short list of 20 life lessons you learn from Friends. We hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we did making it! And if you did, share the love!
Our question for you is: What other life lessons did you learn from Friends?