OK, I get that I sound absolutely crazy for thinking that a TV series has taught me some serious life lessons, but me? My attention span is about the same as a squirrel, so for me to get emotionally invested in a T.V show is insane.

Here are the 20 life lessons "Grey's Anatomy" has taught me.

1. It's okay to be a strong, independent, kind yet determined, single individual.

"Don't let fear keep you quiet. You have a voice, so use it. Speak Up. Raise your hands. Shout your answers. Make yourself heard. Whatever it takes, just find your voice and when you do, fill the damn silence." - Meredith Grey

2. You are the sun. Do not ever let someone take your shine away, even when you are head over heels for that person.

"Don't let what he wants eclipse what you need. He's very dreamy, but he is not the sun, you are." - Cristina Yang

3. Change is okay. Change has to happen in order for you to grow. Let it be.

"There are moments... moments that in a split second your life changes forever, and before you know it... you're somewhere else."
- Derek Shepherd

"It's the way people try not to change that's unnatural. They way we cling to what things were instead of letting things be what they are. The way we cling to old memories instead of creating new ones. Change is constant. How we experience change, that's up to us. It can feel like death or it can feel like a second chance at life. If we open our fingers, loosen our grips, go with it, it can feel like pure adrenaline. Like at any moment we can have another chance at life. Like at any moment, we can be born again."
- Meredith Grey

4. Loss is hard, but there are others out in this world that love you. When people love you, loss doesn't get easier, but with others support the pain will somehow become easier to deal with, and you will become stronger.

"People can be broken, sure, but any surgeon knows that what's broken can be mended, what's hurting can be healed. And know matter how dark it gets, the sun's gonna rise again." - Meredith Grey

5. True friends will take a bullet for you even when they are terrified of dying, never take the late night talks and random bar hopping nights for granted.

"You want justice, right? Your wife died, I know what happened. Derek told me the story. Lexie Grey is the one who pulled the plug on your wife, she's my sister. Dr. Webber, he was your wife's doctor. I'm the closest thing he has to a daughter. And the man on the table, I'm his wife. If you want to hurt them, the way that you hurt, shoot me. I'm your eye for an eye."
- Meredith Grey

6. At times, we meet people and we have no control over the feelings we potentially develop for him/her. It's okay to be completely invested in another soul that you come across, just remember to take care of yourself.

"Burke was - he took something from me. He took little pieces of me, little pieces over time, so small I didn't even notice, you know? He wanted me to be something I wasn't, and I made myself into what he wanted. One day I was me, Christina Yang, and then suddenly, I was lying for him, and jeopardizing my career, and agreeing to be married and wearing a ring, and being a bride. Until I was standing there in a wedding dress with no eyebrows, and I wasn't Cristina Yang anymore. And even then, I would of married him. I would have. I lost myself for a long time. And now that I'm finally me again, I can't." - Cristina Yang

7. You are going to come across people that have completely different values than you, different religious backgrounds, and different perspectives on how the way certain things should be. Who cares. Love is love, but people are people, respect everyone.

"I was raised to be a good man in a storm. Raised to love my country, love my family, and protect the things that I love. When my father heard that I was a lesbian, he said he only had one question. I was prepared for, 'How fast can you get the hell out of my house?' But instead, it was, 'Are you still who I raised you to be?' My father believes in country the way that you believe in God. And my father is not a man who bends, but he bent for me because I am his daughter, I am a good man in a storm." - Arizona Robbins

8. It's okay to side with your best friend when he/she is upset with someone, but that doesn't mean that you have permission to talk down on that person, it just simply means to ignore him/her.

"You know my code. Hoes before Bros. Uteruses before duderuses. Ovaries before Bovaries." - Cristina Yang

9. Competition is good, it drives the human race. Sometimes it is better to be feared rather than loved.

"I was Yang's first valve replacement that worked out, I was the first guy to land a triple cork in a competition and now it's practically standard, you're the first orthepedic surgeon to grow cartilage out of nothing. It means we are who we are because we're not scared of first's." - Grey's Anatomy

10. Everyone will always have something to say about you. You can walk out of your door feeling great about your outfit because it is brand new, but someone will think your shoes are ugly or that your makeup wasn't done right. Who cares, strut your stuff because you are more than just looks.

"Oh, screw beautiful! I'm brilliant! If you want to appease me, compliment my brain." - Cristina Yang

11. If you are talked about more than ignored then you are a threat. People talk out of fear so opinions do not matter, but how you react does.

"Have some fire. Be unstoppable. Be a force of nature. Be better than anyone here, and don't give a damn about what anyone thinks... You're your own. Be your own." - Cristina Yang

12. If you are completely in love with someone then you need to tell that person. You may be rejected but then again you may be gaining a new partner in crime, a new ride or die. Time isn't necessarily against us, we just have to learn to work with it, and the first step is not to waste it.

"If you love someone, you tell them. Even if you're scared that it's not the right thing. Even if you're scared it will cause problems. Even if you're scared it will burn your life to the ground. You say it. You say it loud and you go from there." - Mark Sloan

13. Do not be reckless with your life. At times we feel that there is no way out, but I can tell you that ending your beautiful God given life is not the way to go. Talk to someone and take pride in the fact that you are helping yourself.

"Pain, it comes in all forms. The small twinge, a but of soreness, the random pain, the normal pains that we live with everyday. Then there's the kind of pain you can't ignore. A level of pain so great that it blocks out everything else; makes the rest of your world fade away until all we can think about is how much we hurt. How we manage our pain is up to us. Pain. We anaesthetize, ride it out, embrace it, ignore it... and for some of us, the best way to manage pain is to just push through it."
- Meredith Grey

14. At times you will be put in a situation where someone has to choose you or another person. We do not ask for this to happen, just remember that you were fine before you met this person, so do not ever become someone's second choice. You can fight for what you believe in, just remember your worth.

"I lied. I'm not out of this relationship. I'm in. I'm so in it's humiliating because here I am begging. Okay here it is. Your choice: Your choice, it's simple: Her or me. And I'm sure she's really great... But Derek, I love you. In a really really big, pretend to like your taste of music, let you eat the last piece of cheesecake, hold a radio outside my window! Unfortunate way that makes me hate you, love you. So pick me. Choose me. Love me."
- Meredith Grey

15. You are going to be close with a certain group of people and eventually you are going to be in love, married and with children, but not one person is perfect. We make mistakes, but that doesn't mean hold a grudge and never forgive. When you forgive you aren't just solving and issue with your spouse or gaining a friend back, you are helping yourself. Sometimes forgiveness can be a light, so keep your shoulder weightless.

"It turns out sometimes we have to do the wrong thing. Sometimes you have to make a big mistake to figure out how to makes things right. Mistakes are painful, but they're the only way to figure out who we really are." - Denny Duquette

"I promised I wouldn't run. I promised I would love you. Even when you hate me." - Derek Shepherd

16. Just because something becomes repetitive does not mean that you need to push it away and search for something new. Something repetitive also means something stable, so why let that go?

"Who gets to choose when the old ends and the new begins? It's not on the calendar, it's not a birthday, it's not a new year. It's an event, big or small, something that changes us. Ideally, that gives us hope, a new way of living and looking at the world, a way of letting go of old habits, old memories. What's important is that we never stop believing we can have a new beginning, but it's also important to remember that, amid all the crap, there are a few things worth holding onto." - Meredith Grey

17. Be loyal and kind to your friends, family, loved ones. Drop your world for them, bring them food without them having to ask, go on random Walmart trips of them, do something because they could suddenly die of hiccups.

"Loyalty isn't grey. It's black and white. You are either loyal completely, or not at all. And people have to understand this. You can't be loyal only when it serves you." - Grey's Anatomy

18. Everyone wants to be successful in some type of way. You can reach the top without stepping all over people. Be kind, but keep your goals in mind.

"Adapt or die. As many times as we've heard it, the lesson doesn't get easier. The problem is we're human. We want more than just to survive. We want love. We want success. We want to be the best that we can be. So, we fight like hell to get those things. Anything else feels like death."
- Meredith Grey

19. What you go through will, without a doubt, shape you into who you become. Be thankful for your past, but not bitter about it.

"Maybe we have to get a little messed up before we can step up."
- Alex Kerev

20. Your mom may not be there for you, your best friend may not be there for you, the love of your life may not even realize how upset you have been, but you should always have your own back. Not everyone will notice or even care about how you feel, so go out and love yourself. You will always be your #1 priority.

"You are my person. You will always be my person." -Meredith Grey