7 Love Lessons We Learned from “Friends”

One of the greatest TV shows of all time is the famous Friends.  The American sitcom aired for 10 great seasons (1994-2004) and reruns still play daily.  And I don’t know about you, but I can watch episodes of the show over and over again.  They’re still hilarious even the 20^th time watching the same episode.  There are also great lessons to be learned from the show because it’s so relatable.  I mean, doesn’t everyone live with their five best friends in an apartment in New York City?  Probably not, but here are the seven love lessons we’ve learned from Friends.
 
(Note: If you have never seen or heard of Friends, you are seriously deprived.  I expect you to sit in front of your 50-inch television at home and spend all of Christmas break watching all 236 episodes of the show.  Trust me, you won’t regret it.)

1. Being on a break doesn’t mean breaking up.
In season three, Rachel’s new job puts a lot of strain on her relationship with Ross.  One night, they have a fight about her putting work first and she suggests they take “a break.”  That night, Ross ends up with another woman and the next morning, Rachel calls him to patch things up.  She finds out that Ross cheated on her and they actually do “break up.”

Being on a break doesn’t really mean breaking up.  It just means you’re spending some time apart to figure things out.  Finding comfort in the arms of another man or woman is NOT going to help matters.  Communication is the way to solve relationship problems.  Rather than being like Ross and waiting seven years to finally get back together with Rachel, just don’t do anything stupid to ruin your relationship in the first place.
 
2. Never hide a relationship from your friends – they will find out sooner or later.
At the end of season four, Chandler and Monica drunkenly sleep together one night.  After this night, they decide to stay together, but they want to keep their relationship a secret from their friends.  Joey eventually puts two and two together.  And being an honorable friend, he keeps this secret from the rest of the group.  Soon Rachel finds out about this relationship too, when she picks up the phone and hears a sexually revealing conversation between Chandler and Monica.  Rachel accidently slips and tells Phoebe about the relationship.  Ross eventually finds out when he sees his sister (Monica) and Chandler fooling around through the window.

Point is… your friends should not find out about your relationship this way because they will find out eventually.  Sneaking around may be fun at first, but once your friends find out, they may play some games on you (because they don’t know you know they know you know).   You better watch out.  Your friends may seduce your boyfriend just so you admit that you’re dating him.  I mean, Phoebe did it.  Moral of the story is just be honest with your friends.  They just want to be part of your life.

3. Love happens when you least expect it.
The relationship between Chandler and Monica was completely unexpected– what an odd couple they made.  There were also other relationships in the show that were completely unexpected– for example, Ross dating his student, Elizabeth; Monica dating her father’s friend (and her eye doctor) Richard Burke; and even Phoebe dating her twin sister’s stalker.  Of course, not all of these relationships materialize into something worthwhile, but it’s worth giving them a shot.

Be open to new experiences and meeting new people because you never know what could happen.  Also, don’t forget about your existing friends because you may find the perfect mate already nearby…
 
4. Everybody has a lobster.
Phoebe has a theory on love: in the same way that lobsters fall in love and mate for life, everyone has their own “lobster.”  In season two, the group ends up watching their old prom video in which Ross gets all ready to take Rachel to the dance because her date didn’t show up.  When Rachel’s date finally shows up, Ross is left heartbroken.  Present-day Rachel, after seeing the video, is surprised that Ross would do that for her and ends up kissing him passionately.  Phoebe happily exclaims that Rachel is Ross’s lobster.

Each and every one of you has a lobster, the person you are supposed to fall in love with and mate with for life.  Never give up hope.  Your lobster is out there waiting for you.
 
5. “How you doin’’ never fails.
Joey uses the line “How you doin’’ on a countless number of women throughout the ten seasons of Friends.  All but once does his pick up line work.  Women are wooed when they hear these seductive three words come out of Joey’s mouth.

Ladies, you can use this line too.  If you want to get a guy’s attention, just walk right up to him, look him up and down, and ask him how he’s doin’.  This method is even more successful than Legally Blonde’s Bend and Snap.  So give it a shot- I mean, what do you have to lose?

6. Always read make-up letters all the way through, even if they are 18 pages long, FRONT AND BACK.
After the ugly Ross and Rachel break up in season three, the two try to patch things up early in season four.  But before they get back together, Rachel writes a longggggg letter to Ross.  Ross starts to read the letter but ends up falling asleep.  He pretends he read it all when Rachel starts to ask him about the letter.  Once he finds out that the letter asks him to accept that the break-up was all his fault, he ends up breaking up with Rachel… again.

The lessons we learn from this fiasco are to read break-up letters completely, even if they are 18 pages long FRONT AND BACK, before getting back together with someone.  They may say things that you don’t agree with.  And for those of you considering writing a make-up letter, try to keep the length on the shorter side.  Get to your point or your man may leave again before he finishes reading it.
 
7. There are seven basic erogenous zones.
Start out with a little 1, a 2, a 1-2-3, a 3, a 5, a 4, a 3-2, 2, a 2-4-6, 2-4-6, 4, 2, 2, 4-7, 5-7, 6-7, 7… 7… 7… 777777… 7!

When Chandler is worried about having sex with his new girlfriend Kathy, since she used to be Joey’s girlfriend, he asks Rachel and Monica for some help.  Monica ends up making a list of the seven erogenous zones of the female body.

This love lesson is self-explanatory, but make sure your man remembers to take his time, hit ‘em all, and mix ‘em up.
 
Photo Sources:
http://profesorbaker.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/best-friends-forever-songs…
http://fagalownd.blogspot.com/2011/01/friends-seriado-primeira-temporada…
http://fagalownd.blogspot.com/2011/01/friends-seriado-primeira-temporada…

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