Ahhh, How I Met Your Mother… the beloved show that’s fulfilled my binge-watching cravings and made me laugh for hours on end. The show that has put other Netflix series collections to shame. The show that has not only given me brilliantly-crafted entertainment, but taught me several valuable life lessons. Beware, SPOILERS!! Here are 10 things HIMYM has taught me about real life today that are LEGEN- Wait for it...

1. There’s no jumping the tracks.

Even if you know exactly what you want, you cannot cheat your way there. You have to wait for it. You have to let life hit you and learn from the experiences you had on your way up. Ted knew he wanted to settle down and find a wife even in college, but he had to learn to wait and discover certain things about life before he would eventually find her.

2. You can’t go back to the past, even though it looks familiar.

(Putting aside the fact that Robin said this in reference to Barney, who she later would end up marrying). A lot of times, we cling to the past, because we do not want to move on. We want to stay comfortable, even if it means giving up a dream or doing the wrong thing. Life does not let you go back. There is no re-living the past, no matter how much you would like to. There is only moving towards the future.

3. Love is the best thing we can do.

As Ted so eloquently puts it in Season 9, love is the reason humans are alive. It is the thing we were made to do. We accomplish nothing of true worth without love and the whole show was a testament to that fact. Ted could definitely say that love made him feel foolish sometimes, but it was his (and all the other gang’s) best quality.

4. When you find a true friend, hold onto them.

There were repeated moments in the show when one member of the group felt compelled in some way to leave the others behind- one prominent, when Victoria asked Ted to abandon his friendship with Robin. However, he didn’t and they ended up becoming the best of friends (and eventually being together at the very end of the show. I warned you there were spoilers!!). Good friends don’t come by the dozen, so when you find one, you hold onto them through thick and thin.

5. If you’re not scared, then you’re not taking a chance.

This one is huge. Fear can be a deciding factor for many of us when it comes to facing new challenges. It can make us cowardly or courageous, depending on what we do when we are faced with it. But a real challenge never comes without fear. You may be scared out of your mind… and that’s okay! As long as you do it anyway.

6. Sometimes you look for one thing, but find another.

Life works in funny ways, sometimes. We spend so much time chasing what we want or what we think we want and end up getting something else entirely. There’s no telling why this happens so much. But sometimes, it happens for a reason. Marshall spent his whole life trying to become an environmental lawyer, only to end up becoming a Supreme Court judge. It wasn’t what he thought he wanted, but it ended up being the perfect career for him!

7. Sometimes things have to fall apart to make way for better things.

This phrase describes Ted’s life story to a tee. He spent so much of his time trying to make his architecture business take off, only to discover that he loved teaching instead (but still, props on the GNB headquarters). So many of his dating relationships fell through, only for him to realize he didn’t want to date anymore… right before meeting his wife! It hurts so much when you have something good and lose it. But remember, there’s no telling that something better won’t come along.

8. Step one: you start running. There is no Step 2.

So often we get caught up trying to plan every last detail of our lives out. Marshall trained to run in the marathon for weeks and planned out exactly how he was going to run it. Barney took his place last minute and just decided to run. He ended up winning the gold medal (and also, getting numb legs and not being able to get off the subway all night, but details…). Sometimes you may not know exactly where you’re going or how you’re going to get there. The best thing you can do is just start running.

9. Laughter is the best medicine.

Any time a member of the gang was feeling down or needed encouragement, you’d find all of them at MacLaren’s telling jokes and laughing the night away. Laughter eased the pain and brought them all closer together. Bad days come to everyone, but if you have friends who will laugh with you, be stupid with you and make you smile, you’re doing pretty good.

10. Waiting for the real thing is 10000000x better.

The ultimate message How I Met Your Mother broadcasts is the sweet perfection of waiting. Ted waited for his wife for 36 years before finding her. He went through girlfriend after girlfriend trying to find this woman, only to eventually find her and realize that he would have rather waited for just her. Barney spent a large portion of his teenage and adult life coming up with crazy plots to hook up with girls every night, only to realize in the end that all he wanted was a family. If this show exemplifies anything, it’s how much sweeter it is to wait for the genuine article- the real thing.

Oh, and incidentally…

DARY!

(You’ll get that on the ride home).