For the majority of this past weekend, I was without stable Wi-Fi. And as someone who practically lives on the internet (sad, I know), I felt like I was going to go insane. But before I could go into that downward spiral of insanity, I remembered that I have a box-set of the entire series of "Fruits Basket", one of my all time favorite animes. For those who don't know, the series revolves around a young girl, Tohru Honda, and her adventures with a family, the Sohmas, that happens to be cursed. Every time the members of this family are hugged by the opposite sex or if they're under a lot of stress, they transform into the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac.

I've read both the manga (Japanese comic books) and watched the animated series and though there are large discrepancies between the two - for instance, there are only 26 animated episodes (which essentially cover the first half of the series) but there are 23 volumes (136 chapters) in the manga series - it doesn't change the fact that the series itself is incredibly entertaining, something I was reminded of as I watched it again this past weekend.

As I watched, I was also reminded of another big reason why I love this series so much. Each episode (and in the manga, nearly every chapter) had an important lesson that could be taught to the audience. Many of those lessons I still carry around with me to this day.

Here are some of those lessons that can be learned through the series. Warning, there are some spoilers below if you haven't seen or read the series!

1. Strength is not always based on physicality, it can be based on mental perseverance during adversity.

"You don't have to push yourself so hard. You don't have to do things the way I did. You can just be yourself. Do things your own way, one step at a time. You'll get there. I promise." - Kyoko, Tohru's mother

Tohru is an orphan at the start of the series. She lost her father to illness when she was young, and about a month or so before the series start, she lost her mother to a car accident. Her only remaining family is her paternal grandfather who, while kind and loving to Tohru, is being cared for by Tohru's paternal aunt and her family, who do nothing but terrorize Tohru. To relieve her grandfather of the burden she believes herself to become, Tohru decides to live on her own for a while...in a tent in the middle of the woods that happens to reside within Sohma property. In addition, she also works long hours as a janitor (of sorts) for a company building in town in order to pay for her own schooling.

Somehow, throughout all of the tragedy and hardships she faces daily, she still manages to genuinely smile and put others before herself. Despite everything that's happened in her life, she remains optimistic and unrelentingly caring for those around her while still working hard towards success. That, in my opinion, is true strength.

2. Kindness is not an inborn trait. It is learned, both from nurture and nature, and should be cherished if found in or received from another.

"No one really starts out kind. All we know how to do at first is want. We want food, we want attention...it's just natural survival instinct, I guess...but kindness is something that we all have to learn as we go. It's something that grows and develops slowly over time...the same way our bodies do..." - Tohru Honda

Yuki Sohma (pictured on the left in the image) is the most popular boy at Tohru's school, one part because of his good looks, the other because of how nice he is to everyone. He's known and admired so much that he's earned the nickname "Prince Yuki" from many of his fellow classmates, male and female. However, a little later on in the series, namely after meeting Tohru, he reveals to her that while the others may like him because he's nice, he only acts nice because he wants others to like him, not because it's how he really feels. He feels selfish for wanting people to like him, and because of that, is often depressed and takes any anger out on Kyo, his cousin (pictured on the right) who also attends the school and naturally attracts attention (though usually unwanted) without having to put up a front, out of jealousy.

It is Tohru who later reassures him that even when he's not putting up a front, she believes him to be truly kind. Sometimes, depending on how you were raised, it takes a little while for said kindness to emerge. But once it does, it has so much potential to grow and take different forms.

3. Everyone has something special about them - it's just harder to see on yourself.

What I mean is, a person's admirable qualities. They're just like, say, a pickled plum on a rice ball! In other words, the person's the rice ball and the plum is stuck to their back. So all over the world, you could have rice balls made with all sorts of wonderful ingredients, all different flavors and shapes and colors, but since it's stuck in the middle of everyone's back, someone could have a plum and not even know it. They'd look at themselves and think, 'I'm so plain, nothing but white rice.' Even though it isn't true, because turn them around and sure enough, there it is ... there's the plum. So if someone is jealous of somebody else, well then it's probably because it's easier to see the plum on someone else's back than your own.- Tohru Honda

This one is kind of self explanatory, but I love the way Tohru used the analogy with the rice ball. Sometimes it can be really difficult to see your own talents, your own admirable qualities. However, to others, it can be in plain sight. It's hard to see the good things about yourself when your thoughts are clouded with negativity, but to others, who's thoughts are focused solely on what you can do, not what you can't, it's easy as can be. Over time, you'll gain the confidence to believe and see those traits that people come to like about you.

4. Opening yourself up to people is risk that is usually worth taking.

"You need to surround yourself with others. As you get to know them, of course you take the chance that you'll end up hurting them, or they'll end up hurting you. One of those things might very well happen. That's the only way we learn... about others, and about ourselves. You're a black-belt in martial arts, but I'd guess you still a white-belt in social skills. Someday, you're going to meet someone that truly wants to be your friend, and you, theirs. But it if you don't keep training, you won't be ready when that happens." - Shigure Sohma, to Kyo

This was something that at the time, I couldn't really relate to nor truly understand. Now, at this time in my life where I do have some trust issues and difficulty meeting new people out of fear of being hurt, I find that I relate almost too much to this quote. Kyo Sohma, is an outcast in his family due to the fact that he falls under the Zodiac animal of the cat which, in the Chinese folktale, was tricked by the rat (who happens to be the animal Yuki falls under, hence their rivalry) into missing the banquet where the other animals were made into the Zodiac. Because of this, he is unused to receiving any attention from others, especially positive attention. So he tries to distance himself from other people at his new school (which he attends with Tohru and Yuki) however, his personality seems to draw people towards him instead and he's left not knowing how to suddenly handle all of the attention.

Kyo, after accidentally snapping at Tohru, someone who has expressed a genuine interest in getting to know him, reluctantly confides into his cousin Shigure that he doesn't feel like he's meant to get along with other people. Shigure, however, informs him that things like that happen. You make mistakes and run the risk of hurting others or others hurting you when you make friends and meet new people. But if you never go through those things, you'll never learn how to truly be social and learn how to adapt yourself to the people you meet.

5. The memories that hurt you now will only serve to make you stronger in the long run.

"I want to live my life carrying all my memories with me. And even if those memories are painful, even if they do nothing but hurt me, I want to keep them. Even those memories I sometimes wish that I would forget…As long as I carry them with me, as long as I keep holding on…Then someday…someday I will be strong enough…those memories won't hurt me anymore. Then, I will be glad that I had them. That's what I believe…with all my heart. That's why all my memories are precious to me. I don't think it will be okay to forget a single one." - Momiji Sohma

Momiji Sohma, the rabbit of the Zodiac, is a lovable and happy-go-lucky character in the series who appears very childlike despite being just a year younger than Tohru. However, in many scenes, he reveals a wisdom that many seem to overlook. In one instance, he reveals that for those in the Sohma family who have a child that bears the curse, the parents will usually choose to either be overprotective of it, or reject it completely. In Momiji's case, his mother rejected him so much so that it drove her into such a deep depression and caused her so much pain that she requested that her memories of him, her only son and child at the time, be erased completely.

Years later, Momiji still watches his mother from a distance and cares for her, even though she no longer remembers him and thus her daughter, born after her memory was erased and is free of the curse, has no idea of his existence either. Momiji explains to Tohru that even though it hurts him now, that his mother chose to forget him, he cherishes her memory, because one day he'll be strong enough that those memories won't hurt him anymore - a lesson that Tohru takes to heart as she relates it to the memory of losing her own mother.

6. It is not a bad thing to need validation from other people sometimes.

"I think what it takes is for someone else to say, "I like you." That's the only way you can truly begin to like yourself. When someone else accepts you, that's when you begin to see yourself - through THEIR eyes - and you begin to realize that there may actually be many qualities to like about yourself." - Yuki Sohma

Halfway through the animated series, we meet Kisa Sohma, the tiger of the Zodiac. She's a 12-year-old girl who, at the time of our meeting, has elective mutism due to being relentlessly bullied at school. She runs away from home, having not told her mother about her situation at school out of shame and fear that her own mother would reject her (a point brought to light by Tohru). Later, she receives a letter from her homeroom teacher, which includes the words, "I hope you will learn to feel good about yourself."

Yuki is quick to note the folly in these words, asking aloud, "How are you supposed to find these good qualities, I wonder, if the reason you don't feel good about yourself is that all you can find are qualities you don't like?" He then adds that sometimes it takes other people sometimes to tell you about your good qualities, remind you about them even, for you to remember that they're there. Sometimes you have to think about the people who love you and what they think and compare it to those who try to tear you down. Who's opinion really matters? If you think about it, it's quite obvious, but it takes time to see.

7. Always try to see the good in people.

It's not always easy to see the good in people. In some people, you might even doubt that it's there at all. But if you can somehow, find a way to believe...sometimes that's all it takes to help someone, to give them the strength to find the good in themselves. - Kyoko Honda

This is my favorite quote from the entire series, in fact, it's a quote that I carry with me just in general. It was so moving to me, possibly because I had experience with something like this, both with others and with myself. I've met people who initially came off as cold or aloof, only to find out that they truly are kindhearted and no one ever gave them the chance to prove it. In addition, I know that I, too, can come off as distant, only because I've had things happen in my past that involved getting too close to people and consequently getting hurt.

But it wasn't until someone believed in me, it wasn't until someone told me that they liked who I am and that they cherished me as a friend that I began to allow myself to believe it.

There are many lessons to be learned from "Fruits Basket"; there were just the ones that stuck with me the most and, to be quite honest with you, I teared up a little writing this because they still touch me to this day. If you've never seen the series, I seriously recommend you give it a chance.

For those who have seen it, what's your favorite quote or life lesson from the series?