On September 24th, we take off on another exciting chapter of Meredith Grey’s life as a surgical doctor in Seattle.

Embarking on it’s 12th season, Grey’s Anatomy has aired on ABC since 2005. I have watched it religiously since 2007.

We all have our favorite television shows. You know, that one night a week you set aside for just you, your couch and your TV. Sometimes a bottle of wine and a few girl friends to kick it up a notch, but this is the only 30 minutes (or, if you’re lucky, one hour) where you escape to another world and get to worry about someone else’s problems, for a while.

Our favorite TV show is always there for us. Always there to give advice, to make us laugh and to make us feel.

Since the beginning, I have been able to connect with every single episode of Grey’s Anatomy in some way—be it love, lust, friendship, death, drinking habits or work. That’s what our favorite TV show’s job is, right? We feel exactly what those characters are going through because we happen to be going through it at the same time, and we need answers.

To some extent, our favorite TV show also helps to shape who we are. Grey’s Anatomy (and especially its creator, Shonda Rhimes) has taught me many valuable lessons about life, and I don’t think I would be as understanding or willing to accept life’s roller coaster as easily if it weren’t for some “Meredith Motivation.”

Of these many lessons, there are three that stood out for me in the past eight years:

“So you blew me off for a bottle of tequila. Tequila’s no good for you. It doesn’t call, it doesn’t write. It’s not nearly as much fun to wake up to.” ~ Derek Shepherd

To all of you non-tequila drinkers, I’m sorry if this doesn’t apply to you—maybe replace tequila with your favorite poison.

But to those who know the magic that ensues from the agave plant and happen to have a special relationship with Mr. Jose Cuervo or Mr. Don Julio, you have definitely gotten this morning-after talk from your guy. Sometimes life will throw you such a curve ball, that you are faced with one option and one option only: forget about it for tonight.

“If I murdered someone, she’s the person I’d call to help me drag the corpse across the living room floor. She’s my person.” ~ Cristina Yang

Nothing says friendship like 10 years.

We’ve all got our “person” and they are very important to us. Whether it be your person to hug when you really need it, to tell you you’re being stupid when you are at your stupidest or just to finish a bottle of tequila with. So many characters come and go throughout the 11 seasons of this series, and few remain constant, but that is just like life’s friendships and relationships. You think you’re in it for the long haul, and then all of the sudden your best friend or ex-lover gets hit by a bus.

“Sometimes you just have to dance it out.” ~ Meredith Grey

This is a very consistent piece of advice throughout the entire run of Grey’s Anatomy, and it is a quote that drives me—every day.

If there’s music, you’ve got every reason to “shake your groove thang.” Let your body feel what’s passing through you; it’s a good thing. And when you get the opportunity to dance it out with other people, the cure for any bad feeling will increase tenfold.

I could take a lesson or quote from each Grey’s Anatomy episode and apply it to a certain situation I’m going through or have been though in the past. Shonda helped me get through some seriously hard times; I have standard cable (and Netflix) to thank for that.

Today, I finally finished season 11 of Grey’s Anatomy. I am finally caught up and I feel at peace. If you haven’t had the chance to let “Meredith Motivation” change your life, you might feel like you are ten years behind, but you aren’t. Grey’s will always be there, ready to take you on an emotional roller coaster that you can simply exit from at your leisure.

Wanna hop on for season 12 with me?

~

Author: Celeste Ferrier

Apprentice editor: Dawn Raymond / Editor: Toby Israel

Photo: Public Photos at Flickr / Morgan at Flickr