7 Great Doctor Who Life Lessons ...

My all-time favorite «Doctor Who» life lesson doesn’t come from The Doctor or even a companion, but from an ordinary man who has one encounter with The Doctor. In this episode, Elton Pope realizes that life is more than getting a job, getting married, and having kids. At the end he tells us that there is more to life than following a set plan. Out of all of the «Doctor Who» life lessons I’ve learned, this one hits home the most (it even makes me tear up a little!).

This is one life lesson that I think everybody needs to learn – myself included! The Doctor knows better than anyone that you have to enjoy things while they last because they won’t always be around. At the same time, when you’re going through something tough it won’t last forever so try not to let it get you down. As hard as this lesson is to put into practice, it definitely would be amazing if perfected.

The Doctor’s life is filled with people who come and go; some by choice and others are forced out of his life. A lot of times we forget that we are lucky to have certain people in our lives. Make sure you take the time to recognize how special the relationships you have are because one day they might not be there. This is probably one of the hardest lessons The Doctor has ever had to learn and probably the most important for us to use in our own lives.

The reason «Doctor Who» has stayed on air for forty years is because of its constant changing and evolving. The actor that plays The Doctor has changed eleven times and his companions have changed even more than that! Each new actor who plays The Doctor as well as each new companion brings something new to the show, but they all teach the same lesson. While a lot of people are afraid of change, we can all learn from «Doctor Who» that change can be good.

So we aren’t all aliens who are going to live to be nine hundred years old like The Doctor, but this lesson is still important! Every life on this planet is important. This lesson can be found in a lot of different books, movies, and shows, yet there are so many people who ignore it. Take a page out of The Doctor’s book and realize that everybody is important – even you.

In one of the most heartbreaking episodes of this show (season two finale, if you are curious) we learn this tough life lesson. The Doctor waits until the very last minute to say one of the most important sentences of the series, and learns that waiting too long has its consequences. Just as he’s about to reveal what the audience has waited two seasons to hear him say, something happens to cut him off and he never gets to tell someone how he really feels. Learn from his mistake, and always tell people how you feel before it’s too late.

There’s a reason The Doctor mainly travels with humans – he thinks they’re amazing! We learn courage, perseverance, adaptability, self-confidence, forgiveness, loyalty and patience from The Doctor’s companions. Each of them learns that they are capable of so much more than they ever thought they were. While we all may not get the opportunity to travel throughout all of time and space with an alien, we can still learn amazing things about ourselves if we take the time to put ourselves out there.

Doctor Who is chock full of even more lessons, but these are the ones I think are most relevant and important. What other life lessons can you think of? Which of these is your favorite?