Entertainment

J. Law Can Teach Us A Lot About Life

by Emily Lackey

Personally, I can't think of a single person who does not love Jennifer Lawrence. Somehow, magically, Lawrence is able to charm the pants off of anyone who has ever watched a Hunger Games movie, or seen a talk show. I've been thinking about it a lot lately: what is it about that girl that is so darn appealing? I'm sure I could list a thousand reasons to love Lawrence — from her immense talent to her quick-witted jokes — but, honestly, I think it's more the life lessons that Jennifer Lawrence teaches us that endear the world to her so much.

After all, it's those things that make her so likable that are the things that we can all learn the most from. For instance: how she is just so naturally herself. No pretenses, no Hollywood drama — she's just J. Law, owning her clumsiness, talking about her imperfections openly, and making poop jokes that crack audiences up. That's the trick to her appeal: she doesn't take herself seriously, at all. She's the first one to laugh at herself, the first one to point out the fact that she just fell down a flight of stairs, and the first one to rolls her eyes at the fake glitz and glam of Hollywood. Put it all together, and it makes her not only someone who's impossible not to love, but someone we can all stand to learn something from.

So, without further ado, here are the life lessons that Lawrence teaches us by just being her amazing self:

1. Dust Yourself Off And Try Again

How many times has that girl fallen down? I think that to myself every time I see her trip over the hem of her dress during an awards show. (Which, honestly, can anyone blame the girl? Those dresses look impossible to walk in!) But, trip she does, and every time, without fail, she stands right back up and keeps on walking.

2. Own Your Mistakes

Here's what makes those clumsy moments of Lawrence's all the more charming: when she stands back up, she is always the first to laugh at what a clumsy moment that was. Remember when she fell over at the 2013 Oscars? Or, what about when she fell over at on the 2014 Oscars' red carpet? Who cares? We're all human., and J. Law never tries to hide that fact by playing it cool. She owns her flaws and her mistakes just like we all should.

3. Nobody's Perfect

Whenever I think about people, I think of that scene in American Hustle where Lawrence's character talks about the nail polish. Remember the nail polish? She says it's the smell of it that keeps bringing her back, as it's something sweet, but also kind of rotten underneath. Not only is it a great scene, but the dialogue really is a metaphor for pretty much every person out there: We all have a mix of good and bad in us. None of us is perfect, and nobody likes it when people pretend that they are. It's the mix of good and bad that not only makes us who we are, but makes other people know we don't totally suck.

4. Speak Your Truth

Even if your truth is something different, like that you pee really fast, or that your breasts are uneven. J. Law speaks her mind, and isn't trying to be anything other than who she really is.

5. See Past The B.S.

"I’m so aware of all the B.S. that surrounds Hollywood," Lawrence said in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, "and how everyone gets on this high horse and thinks that they’re curing cancer and it makes me so uncomfortable every time I see it." Remember what's real and what's fake, and see past people who take themselves too seriously so you can always keep things in perspective. J. Law definitely does.

6. Keep An Open Mind

Lawrence isn't tied to her acting career for the rest of her life. She knows that things happen, that life changes, and she's willing to keep an open mind about it. Speaking to E! News, Lawrence said, “I’d like to direct at some point. But I don’t know because 10 years ago I would have never imagined that I’d be here. So in 10 years from now, I might be running a rodeo.”

7. Love Your Body

Lawrence has spoken out a ton of times about her body, pushing back against unrealistic standards of beauty, but this is by far my favorite quote of hers. In an interview with FLARE magazine, Lawrence stated, "I don't really diet or anything. I'm miserable when I'm dieting and I like the way I look. I'm really sick of all these actresses looking like birds... I'd rather look a little chubby on camera and look like a person in real life, than look great onscreen and look like a scarecrow in real life."

8. Always Have A Sense Of Humor

Even during an interview with VogueVOGUE! — Lawrence was the first to crack a joke and not take herself too seriously. “I don’t have nightmares about clowns or burglars or murderers. I have nightmares about 13-year-olds. They terrify me."

9. Stay Humble

During an interview on BBC Radio 1, Larence said of her role in T he Hunger Games : “I really do like love the movies after I watch them. Because the whole time I’m watching them, all I’m thinking about is what a troll and how untalented and awful I am. If I wasn’t in them I would love these movies. I’m the worst part of the whole franchise.” I'm pretty sure her Hunger Games fans would strongly disagree, but the fact that she's so humble is definitely endearing.

But this is what's to love about J. Law: She's not trying to be something that she's not — she's just trying to be herself, and that is something we can all learn from.

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