We won’t lie. We were more than excited when Netflix finally began streaming every season of Friends earlier this year. Like the rest of the world, we wasted away a few Saturdays (read: every Saturday) binge-watching the show and catching up on our favorite moments. There are so many hilarious things we love about the show (smelly cat, anyone?) but we also managed to learn a thing or two about “how to relationship.” It’s only necessary for us to share a few love lessons that we were able to take away from the entire series.
1. Your friends will find out about it soon enough
Monica and Chandler’s secret relationship had a pretty good run, but that secret pretty much died out once Phoebe and the gang got a glimpse of an act that they would never be able to “unsee.” Cue the cat-and-mouse game when Monica and Chandler continued to try to hide their relationship despite knowing that their friends were well aware of their secret. The lesson here is that you shouldn’t try and keep your relationship a secret, period. Your friends will find out eventually (Important note: you should also invest in some curtains).
2. Timing is everything
Remember in season two when Rachel was finally ready to tell Ross her true feelings but it was too late? It was pretty hard to watch Rachel continue on being heartbroken and jealous of Ross’s relationship with Julie (not that that stopped us from watching… ever), but her experience just served as a love lesson for us all: timing is everything, and it’s important to express your true feelings before it’s too late. You never know when a Julie might come in and sweep your crush off his or her feet (and leave you with flowers in hand and a Band-Aid on your forehead).
3. There’s a difference between “taking a break” and “breaking up”
Ah, the “we were on a break” debate. When Rachel thought she and Ross were just taking a break – and Ross thought the Xerox girl was fair game – everything came crashing down. Needless to say, communication is key. Like, it’s key to know whether what your partner is saying means, “I need some space for the night,” or means, “Go ahead and sleep with other people.” Just a suggestion.
4. Choose whom you marry wisely
Who could forget the episode where Ross said Rachel’s name at the altar? A moment like this could only teach a person how important it is to not settle out of convenience and to make sure that you marry the person that you know you want to spend the rest of your life with (that is, find your Rachel and keep them close). Seems like a duh concept, but clearly not for the Rosses of the world.
5. We all have a lobster
Once upon a time, Phoebe informed Ross that Rachel was his lobster. Because, according to Phoebe, when lobsters mate, they mate for life. That basically meant that even though Ross believed that he didn’t stand a chance with Rachel, she was his soul mate and they were meant to be together. If you haven’t found Mr. or Ms. Right just yet, don’t stress. Everyone has a lobster, it just takes a while for us to find that lobster (and we may have to wade through some frat bros in the process).
6. It takes a while to get it right
Dating takes time. We watched the friends date a countless amount of men and women throughout the entire series. Not everyone will be the perfect match despite how badly we may want them to be. Sometimes finding our lobster takes a little more time than we may expect it to. Or, like in the case of Monica and Chandler, our lobster could be right in front of our face all along – and we could be too distracted by guys with great moustaches to notice.
7. Love is beautiful (and unexpected)
We didn’t expect Monica and Chandler to end up together, just like Rachel never thought that she would suddenly fall in love with Ross. But these things happened (thank you, Hollywood! – or New York!), and two beautiful relationships grew from it. We’re not saying that you’ll drunkenly find your soulmate like Monica and Chandler did, but we are telling you that your true love is out there somewhere – you just have to keep your eyes open.
In the end, Friends taught us that lobsters make better soul mates than people think, that love takes time and that hiding a relationship is easier said than done (TBH, it’s probably the hardest thing ever, and we don’t know how Monica and Chandler could even deal that long). Never deny the valuable life lessons that you can take away from a Saturday Netflix binge!