What I’ve Learned from HIMYM

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a looooooooooong time now… why it’s taken me this long, I have NO idea.  I’m a huge How I Met Your Mother Fan.  I may not have been the biggest fan of the ending, but I’ve learned to accept it for what it is and move on.  I do know that How I Met Your Mother has gotten me through a lot!  It’s been my go-to show for various occasions, whether I’m happy, sad, mad, cleaning, or just want a good laugh!  There is no doubt that I’ve learned a thing or two from the show over the past 9 years, there’s also no way I could have fit it all into one post, so forgive me if I left something off:

• When something bad, sad, or unfortunate happens…. Just be AWESOME instead.

Barney taught me from the very beginning the importance of being awesome!  Ever since that first lesson, I’ve strived to be nothing less!  When I get sick?  I just stop being sick and be awesome instead.  When I get sad?  I just stop being sad and be awesome instead.  The moral of the story is whenever something less than awesome happens, you just stop whatever that is… and be awesome instead!

• Nothing good happens after 2 a.m.

Luckily, I haven’t had to learn this lesson from experience – I don’t live in the city that never sleeps and I go to bars that are closed by 1 a.m., so that might be why.  I would like to think though that if I had the opportunity to do something after 2 a.m. that I’d be smart enough to listen to these words of caution though, especially after what happened to Ted.

• Accept the Challenges in Life

How boring would life be if we didn’t accept the challenges?  I’m a lot more willing to accept a challenge and a risk thanks to How I Met Your Mother.  “You can’t eat that entire jar of peanut butter in one setting,” they say.  CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.  “Being a vegetarian is just not healthy,” they say.  CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.  “You can’t take a 4 day road trip, across 16 states, while visiting 6 friends and attending a wedding,” they say.  CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

• The best way to solve problems within your group = INTERVENTION

An intervention is a great way to get your point across without getting a lot of blood on your hands.  There isn’t an individual who has to be the bearer of bad news, it’s a joint effort that gets the entire point across without causing a strain within the relationship.  When your friend is dating a horrible person – INTERVENTION.  When your friend will not shut up in that awful accent they picked up while overseas for the summer – INTERVENTION.  When your friend thinks having a tan is more important than looking like an oompa loompa – INTERVENTION.

• High Fives never go out of style

When you do something awesome, when your friend does something awesome, when you see a dog on a skateboard, when your friends has the “perfect week”, when you make a good joke aimed at your friend…. all reasons for a high five and let me tell you, that high five will never go out of style.  No one is available (or wants) to high five you?  No problem.  SELF-FIVE!

• There are pros & cons to every stage in life, you have to decide how you deal with it

If How I Met Your Mother taught me anything, it was this!  Each member of the gang went through various stages of life throughout their 9 years together – being single, bad dates, engagements, people being left at the alter, krav maga beat downs, breakups, marriages, running a bar, crazy girlfriends and world wide moves.  It may not have been easy at times, but they all decided how they should deal with each situation and ultimately what they would learn from each situation.  How I Met Your Mother was one big lesson for Ted, one girl after the other!  I hope I can accept each stage in life for what it is and learn the most I can from it!

Go out and have a great day, watch your favorite How I Met Your Mother episode and dance like nobody’s watching!

• What did you learn from 9 seasons of How I Met Your Mother?
• Who was your favorite character and why?