If you're like me and are absolutely obsessed with Grey's Anatomy, you would know that Meredith Grey is every goal ever. She's smart, she's tough, she's badass, and of course she had her McDreamy. If you don't watch Grey's, first of all, I'm so sorry. Second of all, if you are a woman in need of an inspiration, you need to get your priorities straight and jump over to Netflix and get a box of tissues to accompany your first Grey's marathon.

First of all, can we just take a moment to recognize how beautiful this woman actually is? She's eating pizza in the image above and I still would consider her to be a goddess. Her external beauty is astounding, and how she can manage to have a perfect messy bun after being in the OR all day is beyond me.

When you watch this show, you can't help but notice that Mer is totally badass. She has the knowledge and ability to save people's lives while they're lying helpless on a table one minute and the next minute is managing her crazy life with her two children and newly deceased husband. (I'll get to McDreamy in a bit) I mean first of all, there is nothing that isn't impressive about a surgeon, and even if you don't think so, you just act like you do since they're the ones cutting you open. Patients love Mer and Mer loves her patients. It brings tears to my eyes watching how natural she is with patients who are literally laying on their death bed and just looking for comfort. Second of all, she is so sassy and blunt to her coworkers, friends, family, and lovers. She's never afraid to say what's on her mind, no matter how much it may offend someone or piss them off. I think maybe that's why she's so successful as a surgeon. She has the strength and courage to stand up for herself and her beliefs and because of that, she gets what she wants.

Next, Meredith hasn't exactly had the easiest life. Her mother was a constant nightmare because of her Alzheimers and suicide attempts, her dad was out of the picture, she randomly finds out she has siblings, her husband wasn't the easiest to tie down (AND THEN HE DIED) and she had many, many unfortunate events occur to herself and her family during her time at the hospital (don't even get me started on the shooting or the plane crash.) I admire Mer for all her bravery. I've struggled my whole life with anxiety and depression, so I've often found myself able to relate to some of her pitfalls in life. Every single time though, she gets back up, shakes off the dirt, and moves forward with her life. There's no looking back and wondering "what if that didn't happen?" or "why me?". This is something I wasn't expecting to learn from a fictional show about medicine, but has changed the way I look at life and it's obstacles. I wish I was as strong as Meredith, and I hope someday I'd be able to have that strength, but for now I at least have a role model, although fictional, that I can look to for guidance.

Now, obviously we all know that Mer had the seemingly perfect husband, the one and only Derek Shepard. But have you seen season 1 and 2? He was married! He stayed with Addison for awhile! Obviously MerDer had serious chemistry, but Derek wanted to try to make things work with Addison, which obviously didn't work, and MerDer was born. If Meredith had given up on Derek after their one night stand and even after finding out that he was married when it happened, we would have never fallen in love with this beautiful couple. And we all know we won't forget this line...

Meredith taught me a few things about dating and romance. First of all, you don't need a man to better yourself and your life. You are in control of your life, not any man. But, the great thing about eventually finding someone is how they better your life just by being in it, not by making you wear certain clothes or hang out with certain people. It doesn't matter how many heartbreaks you go through, you will eventually find someone who makes your heart jump with joy and fill your life with happiness. Even though MerDer was cut short but the tragic, and in my opinion, totally uncalled for, death of McDreamy, they had a beautiful marriage from beginning to end. From the sticky note vows, the two beautiful children, the strength to overcome Derek's injury in the shooting and Mer's emotional turmoil, to holding hands as Derek passed away, this relationship is everything I have dreamt of having as a little girl. Derek treated Mer like a queen, and she tolerated nothing less. She knew what she deserved and wouldn't put up with BS. I hope that me and whomever my prince charming turns out to be, find the kind of happiness that they did on this show. Even though they fought and had ups and downs in life, they never gave up on each other and never stopped making that effort to make things work. Even though the relationship started out tough and certainly ended tragically, she didn't give up on who she knew she loved, and that's extremely inspiring to me as a young woman.

For the sake of saving some of the show for the poor souls who haven't watched this show yet, I'll stop here. Obviously Meredith Grey has made a tremendous impact on the woman I have become and is a huge inspiration for the woman I want to be. Sure, she loves her tequila and would literally run someone over to get a surgery, but she's passionate, strong willed, motivated, smart, badass, and beautiful inside and out. And if you ever need a pick me up, I'd highly recommend looking up quotes from her on the show, just saying.