Over the years, countless people across the world have been captivated by the ins and outs of one of the most popular television shows ever produced:
Friends.
The most famous friendship on the show is between runaway bride and fashionista, Rachel, and control-freak chef, Monica. Despite their opposing personalities and various obstacles, they somehow find a way to keep their friendship intact.
While the show has some inappropriate content, there is a lot we can learn from the friendship between these two women.
1. No one is perfect.
At times, Monica and Rachel were very quick to point out each other’s flaws. In season six, Rachel moves out of Monica’s apartment. During the moving process, both Monica and Rachel are incredibly sad, so their friend Phoebe suggests they name one thing they won’t miss about each other. They each go back and forth listing trivial things about the other, each snarkier than the last. A fight ensues, and Phoebe announces she doesn’t want to live with Rachel because of how she and Monica are treating each other. Monica is then forced to convince Phoebe to still allow Rachel to live with her. She starts listing positive qualities about Rachel, and eventually everyone is back on friendly terms.
In this we see the importance of realizing that no one is perfect. We must be willing to accept some flaws and imperfections. And everything is so much better when we are focusing on people’s attributes rather than their frailties.
2. A friend knows what is truly important.
As shallow as Rachel may seem, she is one of the most sentimental characters on the show. Her love for her friends is overwhelmingly evident throughout all ten seasons. Rachel is known for exchanging gifts she receives, but in season four, Rachel demonstrates her sentimental heart by listing things she has kept over the years and the important friendship memories attached to them. She says, “Okay, maybe I exchange gifts sometimes, but I keep the things that matter.”
3. A friend celebrates with you, even if it’s difficult.
During season six, Monica and Chandler get engaged. Chandler tells Phoebe and Rachel before he proposes, and the two women discuss it over coffee. Rachel says, “I am so happy and not at all jealous.” However, the longer they talk, both characters begin to assign percentages to their jealousy and happiness for Monica and Chandler. Rachel says, “I mean, I’m probably 98% happy and maybe 2% jealous. And I mean, what is 2%? That’s nothing.” Phoebe replies, “Totally. I’m like 90 – 10.” Rachel quickly replies, “Yeah, me too.” They later get down to 70% happy and only 30% jealous. But when the actual engagement happens, Rachel honestly exclaims, “Oh, this is the least jealous I’ve ever been!”
Celebrating with a friend who has just received something you have been waiting for is difficult. And let’s be honest, it’s hard to curb our jealousy. We fight the internal struggle of being happy for our friend when we want similar blessings for ourselves. On the screen we see Rachel living the struggle we all face when this happens in our lives, but she lands on the side of celebration and sets her own desires aside to celebrate her friend.
4. Friendships come and go.
In the pilot episode, we see Rachel running into the coffee shop in a wedding dress. We learn quickly that Rachel and Monica have not spoken in several years. Throughout the seasons we learn more about their friendship as children. They were very close and then slowly drifted apart after high school. But as adults, life led them back together. Friendship is something that comes and goes, unfortunately. Monica and Rachel were lucky enough to renew their friendship after it had faded. Life doesn’t always happen that way, and as difficult as it is to lose a friendship, we must choose to focus on the positive and count ourselves blessed to have had the friendship to begin with.
Monica and Rachel’s characters weren’t only besties on Friends, but they are in real life as well. Maybe that’s why their television friendship rang so true for 10 seasons. Lets embrace the friendship lessons we can learn from these famous Friends and truly celebrate the all the girl friends in our life.
Meet the Author!
Ashley Flowers Wright is a music teacher in Moore who recently got to marry the love of her life. She can’t live without sweet tea and her favorite TV show, Friends. Crocheting is her favorite hobby, but anything crafty gets her in a good mood!