A little over a week ago, I binge watched Girl Meets World. I ended up watching the first two episodes and thought they were cute so I decided to give it a chance. I’ve never seen "Boy Meets World" so I didn’t understand some of the references to old characters and jokes, but I still ended up loving the show. Not only were the characters adorable and fun, but the life lessons I learned and was reminded about were great. Although the show is for children and their families, people of all ages can learn a thing or two from Topanga, Cory, Riley, Farkle, Lucas, and even Maya.
Here are 12 lessons I learned from "Girl Meets World":
People change people
Your past doesn’t define you. You can change and your friends can play a part in it. Changing isn’t always a bad thing. Lucas, a Texas boy, moves to New York. We learn he has a history of fighting, but he has changed drastically due to having Maya, Farkle, and Riley as his friends.
Fight for what you believe in
Living in this world, we aren’t all going to agree on issues. If it’s something that inspires you, you should fight for it no matter what it is. Maya, Riley’s rebel best friend, has a passion for art even though she doesn’t show it. The arts in her school were going to be cut, so she and her friends came up with a way to try to help stop the board from cutting them.
Don’t force anything
When Riley and Lucas first meet, there is an obvious tension there and everyone knows it. As the school year goes on, they are pressured into becoming a couple. They only last a day before realizing they aren’t prepared or ready for a relationship. Not forcing or rushing into anything can be a crucial part of your life. You don’t need to rush into a relationship, school, or job unless you are ready. If you aren’t ready, then things may not go the way you want them to. It’s okay to wait a while and take it slow.
We all have flaws
I have flaws. You have flaws. We all have flaws. Nobody’s perfect (cue Hannah Montana music). I’d love to say that people won’t put you down, but sadly I can’t. It’s not going to change for a long time, but what we can do is learn that these ‘flaws’ we have make us unique and we should be proud of them. Just like Farkle, he’s an interesting boy who gets bullied and is insecure about it, but he learned to accept himself for who he was.
Stop worrying
We need to stop worrying about things in our life that we have no control over. Once we start doing that, we’re on the right track. Maya has had a tough life growing up. Her father left her and her mother. Her mother works all the time and they live in a not so lovely apartment, but she focuses on the good things in her life and tries not to stress about things she can’t change.
Having good friends is important
Never surround yourself with negative people. Be around the ones who keep your life positive and make you feel like you can accomplish any goal. Riley, Farkle, Lucas, Maya and eventually Zay are a great group of friends. They are there to help and support each other no matter what the issue is.
Forgiveness isn’t easy, but it can happen
In the show, Maya is given an assignment to pick someone to forgive. She takes the opportunity to reach out to her father to try and forgive him for abandoning her and her mother. She has a hard time and can’t do it. But we learn that it can take a long time and is sometimes impossible, but if you allow yourself to start forgiving then you can do it.
Listening to your friends
At times your friends need to tell you something that you need to hear. It’s not easy for them to put themselves in this situation but in the end, you’d rather hear something from a friend than a complete stranger.
Family isn’t always blood
Shawn, Cory’s best friend, has come to visit them many times. He and Maya are alike in many ways due to having absent parents. Shawn soon becomes a father figure to Maya, something that she needed in her life. Not everyone you love or care about has to be blood. Blood doesn’t define family; the love of the people does.
Turn off your phone
In today’s world, turning off your phone is something weird to do. People get uncomfortable because they’re eyes aren’t glued to it. But at times, it’s a good thing. We’re missing the world around us. Parents are on their phone, forgetting to watch their kids growing up and children aren’t playing outside as much. We rely on the internet to tell us about everything. Riley and the gang are given an assignment where they have to do research without their phones to help. They learn new things about themselves by actually talking to each other and finding the beauty in the world.
Beauty isn’t everything
Isadora Smackle is a reoccurring character in the show. She is Farkle’s nemesis and future girlfriend. Before dating, she is trying to win Farkle’s love. So she tries to become like Maya and Riley (who Farkle has loved since they were 5). She realizes that when she tried to conform to the norm, she was selling herself short. We can learn that you can have beauty, but if you aren’t living up to your true self, why does it matter? There’s more to life than winning over someone’s love because of your looks.
Acceptance and loving others for who they are
Farkle learns that he may be diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. Through all the testing, we learn that no label can define who you truly are. He eventually shows that with Isadora Smackle, when it is revealed that she was diagnosed with Asperger’s when she was five years old. Nothing can label who you are, whether it is a disability, your sexuality, gender, or race. You get to decide. Not the labels. It was also a great way to show to bring up Autism and Asperger’s in a non-condescending way.
