The highest of fives for the return of a classic show

It’s going to be legen – wait for it – dary.

How I Met Your Mother returns for season eight tonight, and I couldn’t be more excited.

Some may say it’s sad that I’ve based a lot of my life around this show – all some of my friends and I do is talk in quotes and obscure references from the show – but I argue HIMYM has taught me some of life’s best lessons.

Ted and his crew have taught me more about love (and the lack thereof) and what true friends mean than anything else. And I think if you just listened to Ted’s incredible story, you would agree:

1. Don’t chase after the wrong person. The right person could be just around the corner.

We all know how it feels: unrequited love. We all love the chase, and we all at some point will want someone we can’t have or someone who isn’t right for us. Ted Mosby knows this better than anyone. This is now season eight, and we’re still no closer to knowing who the mysterious mother is.

Ted has spent the past seven seasons chasing boring and crazy girls while hung up on his best friend and a girl who left him to chase her dreams. Has he met his wife? How often do we see that evasive yellow umbrella, wishing for her to show her face to end Ted’s misery?

How many of us are just searching for our yellow umbrellas while settling for what’s easy and what’s right in front of us? Chase your yellow umbrella; don’t settle for less.

2. Nothing good happens after 2 a.m.

Seriously, think about it. Any decision you make after this hour will be a bad one, and you will regret it. Ted Mosby did.

His girlfriend at the time, Victoria, had moved to Germany to chase her cooking dreams. Ted was anxious about them being apart so early in the relationship, so when she failed to call one night and Robin (his best friend with whom he shares a romantic past) calls, Ted goes over to her house. The pair end up kissing, and their relationship is strained.

Life lesson: just go to sleep and make your decisions in the morning with a clear head.

3. Your best friends are the people you share a bar booth with night after night.

Lovers come and go, jobs are lost and nothing is static within this group, except for one thing: the bar booth at MacLaren’s.

Ted, Barney, Robin, Marshall and Lily share their best times in that booth, kicking a couple back and sharing memories. No matter how awful life may be for any one of them, there is one constant place where they can just have each other.

I think everyone needs that type of group of friends in his or her life – the group you can always count on to be there and suit up when you need them. Which leads me to the next lesson…

4. When in doubt, suit up.

Always dress to impress and it’s better to be overdressed than underdressed. Barney Stinson even has suit pajamas.

Dressing up will always make you feel better – if you think you look good, you feel good because of the confidence you have and you instantly look better to all those around you.

Go for the suit; you never know what you might encounter.

5. When you’re feeling sad, stop feeling sad and just be awesome instead.

Barney had it right – only you control your happiness. You alone control your emotions, and everything and everyone else are just bystanders.

If you’re having a bad day, you can change it around with just simple positive thinking. Don’t be sad; be awesome.

Above all the funny lines and misfortunate events, How I Met Your Mother teaches you more about life’s little pleasures. It teaches you not to sweat the small stuff and how family doesn’t always mean blood.

True story.

Email: rebecca.bratek@ubspectrum.com