5 life lessons from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I’m currently re-watching Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. along with someone who’s never seen it before. Starting from the beginning again is reinforcing my love for the show, its characters, writers and actors, so I thought I’d jot down a few thoughts. No spoilers though. This is based on season 1.

1) You don’t have to be good at everything
Nobody expects you to be an expert at every goddam thing life throws at you. Most people are pretty bloody good at no more than a handful of things, and reasonable-to-shockingly-bad at everything else. Some folk are expert at one particular thing and that’s awesome. However, if you’re part of a team and know how to trust others, everything will get done. Of course, it helps if your team is totally badass and you have experts in all the skills you need but, let’s face it, none of us will have the specific pressures of working for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division.

2) Family doesn’t have to be blood relations
It may seem weird to some people that Coulson’s team consider each other family after only a few months together, but the situations they find themselves in mean their bonds will form more quickly than they would for you or I in our everyday lives. That doesn’t mean that we don’t or can’t experience the same thing. It’s good to remember that we can choose our ‘family’ and that chosen family is often made up of the people who will truly be there for us, no matter what. Surround yourself with good people and everything will seem better.

3) Always see the good in people
Coulson and his team always allow people the benefit of the doubt and and give them a chance to prove themselves. Well, apart from Agent May who is suspicious of everyone, or at least pretends to be. It can sometimes be tempting to think that all other people are rubbish and will never live up to your high expectations, but starting out with that opinion means that you are automatically seeing the worst in people. A negative outlook like that can be very emotionally draining so, instead, why not try to stay positive and give people a chance? You might be pleasantly surprised.

4) Never underestimate someone because of their age or gender
If you do, that tiny woman in her 50s and that tiny woman in her 20s are going to kick your ass before you have a chance to blink. Also, in the first series, Fitz looks about 12 but has epic engineering skills and managed to get the hang of field work too. We all make assumptions about people based on our first impressions, but it’s worth trying your best to ignore them once in a while. The more you try, the easier it will become.

5) Loving what you do is never a bad thing
Seeing the utter joy on the faces of FitzSimmons whenever they get stuck into solving a new problem will never get boring. That look of bliss on May’s face when she’s alone in the cockpit of that plane. Coulson’s smug face when he’s driving Lola. Other people will get joy from seeing you in your element, so everybody wins. Enthusiasm is infectious – never apologise for it. The world could do with a bit more happiness.

Images from ABC (WARNING: That link will contain spoilers if you’re not up to date with the show).