In this day and age there are a lot of programs on television, not only teaching us millennial things but also for our entertainment. I grew up watching the crazy Cory Matthews (played by Ben Savage) fall in love with his high school sweetheart Topanga (played by Danielle Fishel) all while learning about life and friendship from his favorite teacher Mr.Feeny (played by William Daniels). So naturally I was very skeptical when Disney launched its pilot of the spin of show named "Girl Meets World" staring Riley Matthews and Maya Hart (played by Rowan Blanchard and Sabrina Carpenter). While watching the thirty-three minute episode I learned more then than I had in my seven hours of school that day, so in teenager-like fashion, I binge-watched the first two seasons on Netflix and gained an arsenal of new information that will help me navigate the world. Some of the most important things I've learned from "Girl Meets World" is:
1. Be open minded.
I learned that you can never judge a person for their beliefs, sexual orientation, race or the way they live their lives. Everybody is unique and different, but that what makes us great and we all contribute to making the world a better place by just being ourselves.
2.Beauty isn’t skin deep.
Feeling beautiful and being beautiful is not as far off as they once were. Knowing and feeling the inside is beautiful is great and pure, but in this day in age, to get into a lot of jobs, it's about outer beauty and overall appearance. You could be educated, have higher qualifications then someone and have more references, but still not get the job of your dreams because they don't like your appearance.
3. To do good is to be good.
I learned that being kind to people and going the extra mile for another person, no matter how much of an inconvenience it is for you at the time, will be rewarded. It is as simple as giving a stranger a compliment, holding the door open for someone or just taking the time out of your day to really sit and listen to someone.
4. People are always going to stay stuff about you.
No matter if you are five, fifteen or sixty years old, someone is always going to have something to say about you wheather it be negative or good. You need to learn to accept it and move on. When someone says something negative about you they are looking for a reaction, but the best thing you can do is not give them one. You hold your head high and ignore them.
5. Relationships end.
Sometimes relationships end, even on a sunny day when you think everything and everybody is okay. Life goes on after a breakup. It may hurt for a while and some longer than others, but in time the pain will pass and you will be yourself again. You will not even think twice about the person who hurt you or what they are doing.
6. Sometimes you have to let go.
Sometimes people are going leave your life and you're not going to know why, but you will be okay. Sometimes it takes someone leaving to realize what they lost and come back stronger or just learn to love you from a distance.
7. The most important thing you're friends can do is stay.
Having a good support system guiding you will make you happy. Having a set of friends that stick with you through the good and the bad, and life's up and downs is the key to a life worth living. I learned that if a person is a true friend, they will stay with you no matter what.
8. The best thing you can have is hope.
Hope is one of the most powerful things you can have because it changes your outlook on the bad things in life. Cory taught Maya that it isn't the clothes on her that makes her beautiful, it's the hope in her eyes; the hope that things will work out and get better.
9. People change people.
As Cory says, this is the secret to life.