Lesson #10: Listen to Your Parents

Like most people my age, I have certainly had my fair share of arguments with my parents. However, as painful as it is for me to admit, they almost always turn out to be right in the end. I'm beginning to make my peace with it but I'll be honest, that doesn't stop me from occasionally trying to prove to my mother that she might be wrong every great once in a while (spoiler alert: still hasn't happened). To her credit, she has never failed to be there for me when I suffer the consequences of not listening to her, though not without a brief lecture about how "your mother is always right!" I'll take it though, because my mom has taught me so many invaluable lessons that I'll carry with me throughout my life. Sure, I learned some of them the hard way, but I'll be forever thankful to my mother for guiding me through it.

So, with this in mind, I'd like to share with you some lessons that we can all learn from the parents of Friends:

Don't be afraid to shake things up ~ Jack Geller

Jack Geller (Ross and Monica's dad) is probably my favorite parent on the show, mainly due to the fact that he says the most outrageous things without even realizing it. One of my favorite Jack Geller moments is when he tells Monica, in the wake of her grandmother's death, that when his time comes, he'd like to be buried at sea.

Maybe Jack has a point here, although I certainly don't think you have to wait until you die to change things up. 

Be your most authentic self ~ Charles Bing/Helena Handbasket

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the show, Chandler's parents divorced when he was 9 after his father came out as gay. Since then, he became a drag queen and joined an all-male burlesque show called "Viva Las Gaygas." 

Although Chandler wasn't exactly on board with his father's lifestyle, Charles never compromised himself and continued to live the life he loved. While Chandler and his father didn't get along for a while, they eventually make up with each other and as you can see in the clip above, Charles agrees to go to Chandler and Monica's wedding. 

Be with someone who makes you happy ~ Sandra Green

When we first meet Rachel's mom, she displays a lot of the characteristics we first saw in Rachel at the beginning of the show (spoiled, lofty, dependent on others). However, she soon announces to Rachel that she's considering leaving her husband. After seeing Rachel leading such an independent, happy life, Sandra realized that she was unhappy with her own.

Rachel's mom shows us that it's never too late to make a change and that you should never compromise your own happiness for things like financial security or luxury. You deserve to be with someone you love, and even if it takes you a little longer to realize that, you still have the right to decide for yourself what is best for you. 

With Thanksgiving coming up next week, I think that we should all try to set some time aside to really thank our parents for everything that they've done for us. Whether we'd like to admit it or not, they have a lot of wisdom to offer us and I know that personally I wouldn't be where I am today without the guidance of my two biggest supporters. 

Images and video courtesy of (in order of appearance):

• Bustle
• PureBloodPaul
• Netflix

Lesson #9: Never Let an Opportunity Pass You By

As a college student, I find that opportunities tend to present themselves left and right, you just have to keep your eyes open for them. There is pretty much a club for anything you can think of that interests you, and if you can't find specifically what you're looking for, you always have the option to make it happen yourself. There are also countless internships and research opportunities available for students pursuing all kinds of career paths. The only hard part is seizing the moment and taking advantage of that opportunity.

There are then, of course, the once in a lifetime opportunities that you just so happen to stumble upon by chance. One of those such opportunities might be, for example, being "locked in an ATM vestibule with Jill. Goodacre."

Chandler finds himself presented with this very opportunity during a blackout in New York City. When he discovers that the blackout has caused the doors to lock from the inside, he turns around to complain to the woman trapped there with him, only to realize that it's Victoria Secret model Jill Goodacre. 

In a true testament to his own awkwardness, Chandler spends the first fourteen minutes of his time having an inner monologue with himself, thinking of something to say to her. Jill finally breaks the ice and asks if he'd like to use her cell phone to call someone. Chandler calls Joey and alerts him to the fact that he has been presented with this once in a lifetime opportunity. After he hangs up, Jill offers him a piece of gum. His response?

Clearly Chandler has never been in this type of situation before (or perhaps any situation that was one-on-one with a woman), but he is determined to take advantage of this opportunity. He decides to impress her by blowing a bubble, something that he thinks has a "boyish charm" to it. However, he accidentally spits the gum out instead of blowing a bubble. In an attempt to recover, he quickly shoves the piece of gum back in his mouth, only to realize that it's not his gum. He subsequently begins to choke on it.

Now I know what you're thinking. Chandler has definitely blown this crazy, once in a lifetime chance to impress this model. His awkwardness has definitely gotten the best of him here, and he's just going to have to let this one go, right? I mean, if you're like me, you kind of lost hope after the whole "gum would be perfection" thing anyway. But maybe Chandler can still salvage this.

Jill rushes to his aid and performs the Heimlich on him. He tries to thank her, saying "That was... That was..." She smiles at him and offers, "...Perfection?" Chandler's luck takes a turn here and by the end of the episode, he and Jill are talking and joking around with each other. When the power finally comes back on, Jill tells Chandler that she "had a great blackout" with him and kisses him on the cheek. The episode ends with Chandler looking up at the security camera in the vestibule and asking for a copy of the tape.

So, Chandler didn't end up blowing his opportunity after all! It might have taken him some time to get things going, but in the end I'd say he has a pretty successful blackout after all.

Images and video courtesy of (in order of appearance):

• Huffington Post
• Friends Season 1
• hellowonderland
• Buzzfeed
• Head Over Feels