Oh, Sherri: Her Lessons in Love!

So I had to watch Sherri last night (on Lifetime)—those previews of Sherri Shepherd slinging hilarious one-liners sent me straight to the DiVo record button. And I have to say, I thought the show was really funny and really sweet. I actually laughed out loud a few times, and how often does that happen from a supine position on the couch…

Go, Sherri! (Image: MyLifetime.com)

What I loved most about it? Sherri came off as strong, wise and funny as hell, but she also showed us that side we all have: when you’re unsure of what’s coming next. When you’re tired of being beat down by life, of being sad or single. When you just want to put your head on your dad’s shoulder and say, “I need a pep talk.”

In fact, let’s let the show give us a pep talk, because what I saw were some great lessons about life and love:

Lesson #1: You can’t control life, but you can control how you feel about it. This nugget came from Sherri’s friend Angie (played by Elizabeth Regen). Angie was consoling Sherri, whose husband Kevin (played by Malcolm-Jamal Warner) cheated on her…and got his new fling pregnant. Here’s what Angie said: “Men make bad choices and we can’t control it. We can only control the choices we make when choosing to deal with it.” Sherri liked the advice and, oh, so did I.

Lesson #2: The tough times only last so long. So say the five stages of grief according to Sherri: “Anger anger anger anger candy.” As bad as things feel, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. And sometimes that light is made of chocolate.

Lesson #3: Please, keep the faith. Through all the funny, Sherri showed her soft side in the last scene over tea with her dad (played by The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air‘s “father” James Avery!). “I’m tired Daddy,” she said. “Tired tired. This is just too hard. I loved Kevin with all my heart, now I think I’ve lost faith in this part of my life ever working out.” He came through with another pep talk. “Love is not for the weak,” he said. “Don’t lose faith, Sherri, you’ll find somebody.”

And that’s what counts the most. Don’t lose faith. Don’t lose hope. Because if you can just believe that your half-orange is out there—that you will meet the person who is meant for you—then you’ll be able to embrace your life more as it is now. You want your other half to find you when you’re feeling at your best, right? You want to meet him or her when hope is in your line of sight, when you believe that good things are possible. So do as Sherri’s dad says: Don’t lose faith. If you can just believe that you will find somebody, your big relationship will be that much closer.

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Big love,