Rachel Green:
Rachel really grew through those ten years and we grew with her. She taught me not to let others’ opinions of you bother you, and to really chase your dreams. She had the courage to break away from her family name and establish one for herself. From a girl completely lost, she found direction and become a top executive in her field. Moreover, she never let anyone undermine herself or her work.
Ross Geller:
Ross Geller taught me to embrace the nerd within me and be proud of her. He didn’t shy away from ranting about his extensive knowledge, no matter how boring or geeky he came across as a result of it. Through all his divorces and failed love stories, he inspired me with his firm belief that love is real and something worth fighting for.
Monica Geller:
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Monica is her obsessively meticulous and organized nature. While it was the source of a number of jokes, it is a quality that I wish I had and something so valuable to emulate in real life. The amount of love and generosity subtly infused into her character left me awestruck, whether it was taking in Rachel, or making huge sacrifices to make her marriage a success.
Chandler Bing:
Chandler had the ability to laugh on the good and the bad days, and his character definitely made me laugh on more than one of my bad days. He managed to find the humor in every situation and made sure his friends saw it too. He conveyed the message to so many troubled teenagers that your upbringing doesn’t have to decide where you ended up in life.
Phoebe Buffay:
Loving life is a hard thing to do on an everyday basis, even for privileged people like you and me. To see someone like Phoebe, who had to face so many obstacles at every step of the way, have such an immense zeal for life really made me think of the same zeal lacking in me. The energy she woke up with every morning motivated me to do the same. As cliched as this sounds, she proved to everyone that as long as you are a good person, you will get a happy ending.
Joey Tribbiani:
Under his womanizer reputation, Joey’s sensitive nature is really what stood out to me. He went out of his way to be there for everyone in his life, whether it was his sisters or his friends. He was protective, possessive and a child at heart. His pure excitement at things like building a fort or owning a toy penguin brought out the child in me!
All in all, F.R.I.E.N.D.S showed me that the one thing that truly matters in life are the friendships you make. As long as you surround yourself with the people you love, you will be just fine.
