George Bernard Shaw once wrote, "There are two tragedies in life, one is to lose your heart's desire, the other is to gain it." If you're a hopeless romantic like me, this quote is probably the most relevant thing you've ever read. If you're also a "One Tree Hill" fan, reading this quote probably took you back to one of the best episodes of an already amazing show. Safe to say our entire generation would be in agreement that OTH is not only one of the most relatable shows of all time, but it is also one of the most memorable.
As someone who gets emotionally invested in all of her favorite things, "One Tree Hill" was no different for me. I am not exaggerating when I say I cried for three days after the finale. So what exactly makes this show that's been completed and off the air for awhile now so memorable? So relatable? The quotes. Every episode is so heavily rooted in meaning, in emotion, in life. Its almost as if the writers were these wise beyond words human versions of fortune cookies. I don't think the show would have been so popular without all of the quotes that made you feel what the characters were feeling, or took you back to a moment of heartbreak or happiness. The beauty of the show was how much it made us feel. One of the best feelings any of us can feel is love, and OTH was so focused around young love, long distance love, unrequited love, you name it.
So no wonder we all loved it so much. Who doesn't love love? Some of the most memorable quotes from the show were about love. They are the quotes we use on Twitter as a form of subtweeting "the one that got away" or they are the quotes we use as captions for our Instagrams. Heck, maybe we even tattoo them on our bodies because their meaning is so powerful to us. Whatever it is, these quotes will never be forgotten, and they will always be around to help remind us to believe in love, even when it's not so easy.
Whenever we are feeling immense heartbreak:
"I realize now that when your heart breaks you got to fight like hell to make sure you're still alive. Because you are. And that pain you feel? That's life. The confusion and fear? That's there to remind you that somewhere out there is something better. And that something is worth fighting for."
This quote drags you through the pain you might be feeling and gives you the stern a** kicking you probably did not know you needed. We all spend way too much time feeling sorry for ourselves, wallowing in the self pity and heartbreak. Feeling like no one could ever love us the same way that person did, maybe we aren't good enough for them and that's all that defines us. Maybe we are giving up hope just at that very moment, and "One Tree Hill" was there for us. Reminding us that while this pain feels exactly like the end of the world, it's not. And sure, life is not always like what we see on TV, but what if OTH is art imitating life? In that case, it's perfectly okay to take this quote that was meant to help heal us and let it do just that. We may even be better for it.
When we feel like there's no one out there for us:
"At this moment there are 6,470,818,617 people in the world. Some are running scared, some are coming home, some are telling lies, just to make it through the day. Others, just now facing the truth. Some are evil men at war with good, and some are good, struggling with evil. Six billion people in the world. Six billion souls. And sometimes, all you need is one."
We hopeless romantics are suckers for the belief in a soulmate. A belief that one person is out there on this planet, and they can be our everything. If you're like Peyton Sawyer, they might be the one always saving you. If you're like Brooke Davis, they might be the person reminding you that you are enough the way you are. Either way, when we watched this episode, the reality of it hit us hard. Why do we feel so alone when there are 6 billion people walking next to us every day? Sometimes it is possible to feel like the only one going through what we are going through. But while we are feeling that way, all we need to do is remind ourselves that we aren't. With six billion people, how could we be? And I for one am a firm believer that in one way or another, we all find that one. It might not be when you're 17, and it might not happen until you're 70. But it will happen and when it does, it won't matter how long it took you to come across them. We can't all end up like Nathan and Haley, but just when Brooke thought she was going to be alone forever, her knight in shining armor rode into Tree Hill, NC to steal her heart.
When we are young and in love:
"You can drive at 16, go to war at 18, drink at 21 so who can say what age you have to be to find your true love?"
If you're lucky, you may come across love once or twice when you're young. But society always seems to be in a perpetual state that promotes the idea that young love doesn't last, or it doesn't really exist. It can't be love -- you're only __ years old! As if being a certain age suddenly grants you the right to finally feel something. All of us were low-key envious of NALEY's relationship on the show. Who wouldn't want to find their soulmate in high school? Maybe we wouldn't get married at sixteen like they did, but you get the point. Nowadays it almost seems that for those of us who are young and not in love, our love lives are over. We see our peers falling in love and we want to as well. But what's great about this quote is that it goes both ways. You can be 16 and you can be 60. You can't put an age on love. You love your parents from the second you are born, but no one ever told you that was wrong. And even if you do find love at a young age, and even if it doesn't work out, being in high school doesn't mean it wasn't real for you. And being in a nursing home won't change that either. Love is love - some of us just get lucky enough to find it earlier than others.
When we are afraid of taking the risk:
"Most of the time, the greatest rewards come from doing the things that scare you the most."
Sometimes we are afraid to fall in love. We've been hurt before and that pain was so horrible, that ever feeling it again would probably kill us. Brooke Davis of all characters can attest to that. However, if we never allow ourselves to risk our hearts over and over again, how are we ever supposed to find love? No risk, no reward. Sure, that pain was probably one of the worst things we have ever been through, but why should we let that hold us back from all future happiness? Without it, we wouldn't be so strong. And that pain, as mentioned in the previous quote, is just letting us know that we derive better than what came before, and yes, we can find it. So why not open ourselves up to love? We make our own opportunities in this world - why can't love be one of them? Say what you want to say to the person you love. Let yourself love them so they can let themselves love you.
When we take things for granted:
"Sometimes I think that we waste our words, and we waste our moments and we don't take the time to say the things that are in our hearts when we have the chance."
This is probably one of the realest things I took away from the show (I won't lie - I tweeted it the other day because of how relevant it is to my current life). This quote resonates so deeply with all of us, yet we all still seem to keep repeating the same behaviors. If you want to tell someone you love them, say it every day until you physically can't speak anymore. Tell everyone you care about how much you appreciate them while you can. We all take the people in our lives for granted sometimes, but OTH was there to remind us that we should make an effort to let everyone know the simplest yet most amazing thing - that we love them. You never know when you are seeing someone for the last time, and no one wants to live with regrets. So let's all take the opportunities while we still can.
Because life is too short not to follow your heart:
"Life is too short to play games. If you love somebody and you wanna be with them, then go to them. Deal with the mess later. We don't know what tomorrow will bring."
Similar to the quote before this, we are all only here for a limited amount of time. Living our lives without following our hearts would be a waste. We are meant to be happy, but sometimes it just takes a little more effort from ourselves. We shouldn't let anything stand in our way of being with the ones we love. Even if our heads tell us it isn't right or it doesn't make sense, the heart is what keeps us alive. So follow it. Listen to it. You only get one go-around at life, so you might as well do everything you can to make it all you want it to be. OTH knew that better than anyone.
So I think we all owe "One Tree Hill" a huge thank you. A thank you for seeing us when we needed to be seen, understanding us, making us feel so deeply the things that can't be unfelt. Thank you for reminding us what's important in life and that we deserve to go after it. For letting us know that it's okay to be in love, no matter what the circumstances. Thank you for giving us the chance to believe in love again. We all needed it. If there's one lesson we can all learn from OTH, it's to follow all of our dreams, let our hearts lead our lives, never be afraid to fall or to be saved, do everything in our power to be as happy as we can make ourselves, don't forget to tell our loved ones how much we care, and feel everything we are feeling as deeply as possible. Life is too short not to.
We love you "One Tree Hill," for giving us all something to believe in again.
