“You’ll be shocked kids when you discover how easy it is in life to part ways with people forever. That’s why when you find someone you want to keep around, you do something about it”

Image courtesy of fanpop.com and Entertainment Weekly

The above quote is one of my favorite lines from the television sitcom How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM). The concept of the show is simple: Stories are told by the main character, Ted Mosby, to his children about how he met their mother.  It’s chalk full of quotable lines and pop culture references that make this one of the best sit-coms in recent memory. HIMYM is down to the final episodes and I’ll miss the show when it’s gone.  Here’s to reruns and Netflix.

I’ve been blessed to have some remarkable friendships in my life and I have to say I’ve thought about the essence of the above quote for a long time. Much anxiety has been created as a result.  In fact, my first post on this blog was about this very topic. The title was Exit 1.

Crazy huh?

The post was about how easy it is for friends to come in and out of our lives. I wrote this particular blog post in 2007, and when I heard the HIMYM quote on Monday it stopped me right in my tracks. If you have a chance, read the post from 2007, then re-read this one again.  You’ll see what I mean.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from Ted Mosby and HIMYM:

“You never know when you’re about to meet someone very important. It’s not like life gives you a warning. You just look up and there they are.”

“That’s the funny thing about destiny. It happens whether you plan it or not.”

“You can ask the universe for signs all you want but ultimately we’ll only see what we want to see…when we’re ready to see it.”

“Here’s the thing about mistakes: Sometimes, even when you know something’s a mistake, you gotta make it anyway.”

“Sometimes love means taking a step back. If you care about somebody, you should want them to be happy even if you wind up being left out.”