I have never been good with change. As a child, I would throw fits at even the idea of moving houses, panic each time I was introduced to new babysitters, and cry during every goodbye. While I physically grew, the mentality of that little girl continued to live within me. The intensity of my opposition to change faded gradually, but it was not until I watched How I Met Your Mother that I truly understood the art of believing that everything happens for a reason and that sometimes, change is inevitable.
How I Met Your Mother follows Ted Mosby, a hopeless romantic 27-year-old in New York City, as he recounts the events leading up to meeting his wife to his children. The show spans nine entire seasons before the mother is revealed. The show places an emphasis on the fact that every choice he makes or event he faces leads, in one way or another, to him meeting the mother of his children.
As I watched the show for the very first time in the fall of 2021, I was quickly captivated by the snowball effect of each event in Ted’s life has on the other. I admired how he accepted life’s curveballs, truly believing that he would meet the mother of his future kids. He let things happen to him: the good, the bad, the ugly, the love, and the inevitable heartbreak. Yet, Ted rarely pushed back against life’s less desirable corners of life, believing that these things were leading up to his eventual union with the love of his life. He did not stop believing. As the plot unraveled, it became clear that everything in Ted’s life did, indeed, happen for a reason.
I began to understand that I, too, like Ted, could accept that everything happened for a reason rather than resisting what life had to offer. My opposition to change stemmed from a desire to avoid discomfort. I had learned that if nothing changed, I could be comfortable forever. Thus, my mentality was to keep my life this way: safe, comfortable, and involving as little change as possible. Yet, How I Met Your Mother taught me that change is actually a positive.
Now, I understand that change opens up windows and opportunities for positive shifts in the wider lens of my life. I am far more now open to accepting change than I ever was. My newfound openness is deeply rooted in the understanding that everything happens for a reason. Consequently, I’ve learned that things must change for progress to happen.
While this idea is not foolproof, I have found that reminding myself that everything happens for a reason helps me manage my stress. It may be silly recalling the plot of a show helps calm me down, but the mantra stuck with me. When I feel that little girl creeping back up from inside me in the face of life’s inevitable change, I remind myself that everything happens for a reason. I remind myself that for Ted, it all worked out. Every little event in his story leads to the eventual coming together of him and the mother. After this reminder, I suddenly feel less jarred by the change at hand. This mentality has changed me for the better. I have learned to let go of my negative perception of change. Better yet, I have learned to embrace the twists and turns of life, making me an overall better person.
Though I have learned to accept and embrace change, I do not predict that I will ever deviate from what has become the norm of my yearly How I Met Your Mother rewatch. Sometimes I only make it through 3-4 seasons, and others, I have finished the entire show. But, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter because everything, even the length of my How I Met Your Mother rewatch, happens for a reason. I will forever thank my Dad for recommending I watch How I Met Your Mother, not only for a new favorite show, but for a new outlook.