4 Life Lessons "Parks and Recreation" Has Taught Us

By Elana Goodwin on December 20, 2014

The fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana, may not exist but it will not be forgotten. “Parks and Recreation,” which follows our favorite Pawnee bureaucrats in a mockumentary style on the half-hour comedy on NBC, will start airing its seventh and final season starting on January 13.

The last season of the beloved show will consist of 13 episodes, to be aired back-to-back, and has moved to Tuesday nights at 8 p.m.

The series stars Amy Poehler, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, Jim O’Heir, and Retta.

As we prepare to say goodbye to the Parks gang who we will miss in the “saddest fashion,” let’s take a look back at some of the life lessons “Parks and Recreation” has taught us.

Photo Credit: pawneeindiana.com

1. Miniature horses are seriously awesome. Li’l Sebastian was Pawnee’s infamous mini-horse, who the whole town was pretty much obsessed with. When Sebastian died in season three, the town held an extravagant and epic memorial service for him, with his tribute song, “5,000 Candles in the Wind” sung by Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) and his band, Mouse Rat.

Unfortunately, non-Pawnee resident Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) mistakenly called him a pony and never really got his appeal, saying: “It’s kind of a small horse. I mean, what am I missing?”

Still, “Parks and Recreation” taught us two valuable lessons with Li’l Sebastian: firstly, that miniature horses are not ponies, and two, that they are awesome.

Photo Credit: NBC

2. If Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) ever did become president, things would really get done. Deputy Parks Director (turned Midwest Parks Service head, according to the season six finale) Leslie Knope is known for her work ethic, enthusiasm, and belief in her job and government. She practically single-handedly plans festivals, merges two towns, and makes new parks in the city of Pawnee.

As she’d stated in the show, Knope hoped to become the first female president of the U.S., and if she did, her first act would probably have had something to do with waffles. But after that, she definitely would’ve started making some big changes and getting things done.

“Parks and Recreation” showed us that with a government bureaucrat who actually cares about helping people and believes in the purpose of her position, things can actually happen.

Photo Credit: buzzfeed.com

3. Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) should rule the world. While Leslie Knope may make a good U.S. president, her boss for most of the series, Parks Department Director Ron Swanson, should definitely run the world. The gruff libertarian who loves woodworking, whiskey, meat, and hunting, at first comes off as distant and staunchly masculine but is actually a loyal friend and full of wisdom.

Swanson’s been hailed as the show’s breakout character and Offerman’s received praise from critics for his portrayal of the character. Over the years on “Parks and Recreation,” Ron Swanson has given us gems like, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Don’t teach a man to fish, and you feed yourself. He’s a grown man. Fishing’s not that hard” along with “Don’t start chasing applause and acclaim. That way lies madness” and “Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.”

If Ron Swanson ran the world, while there’d quickly be a meat shortage, people would be just a little bit more inclined to think about their actions and Swanson would be there to tell them straight-out if they were being stupid or doing something wrong.

Photo Credit: hellogiggles.com

4. You should take the time to “Treat yo’ self!” In the fourth season of “Parks and Recreation,” Pawnee Parks employees Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) and Donna Meagle (Retta) invited Ben (Scott) to come with them on their annual spa day and shopping trip. During this excursion, when faced with deciding whether or not to indulge and buy something they like, their motto is “treat yo’ self.”

When describing the concept, Donna and Tom explain what they treat themselves to: “Clothes, fragrances, massages, mimosas, fine leather goods. It’s the best day of the year.” And when Ben tags along, he decides to treat himself to a legit Batman costume and breaks down with emotion.

“Parks and Recreation” taught us a valuable lesson here — that we should take the time to do something nice for ourselves and not be afraid to splurge once in a while to make ourselves happy and feel good.

Besides these important lessons, the show’s imparted some other knowledge for life as well, such as everyone needs an April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) and Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) in their lives. April is dark and hates people and doing things while Andy is a lovable somewhat dim-witted slob but both of them make life for the other Parks employees more interesting.

Additionally, as seen when Leslie gets recalled from her position on the city council, we learned that sometimes people can be unappreciative for all you do for them but that doesn’t mean you should stop caring and trying to make things better for everyone.

So even though “Parks and Recreation” may be ending in 2015, the life lessons we’ve learned from the show will stay with us long after it’s aired its last episode. And for those of you who haven’t watched the show or have forgotten aspects of the earlier seasons, after the series ends is a perfect time to binge-watch the whole thing from start to finish.

And while Ron Swanson may have said that crying was only “acceptable at funerals and the Grand Canyon,” when this awesome show ends its final episode, I just may have to break that edict.

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