How to Cheer Up a Friend
Who Needs Cheering Up?
Every now and then we all need cheering up to help us get through a rough patch in life. So I'll share with you some simple but thoughtful things you can do to cheer up any friend.
Cheering up a friend is no small thing! It provides temporary relief that can give him/her a different perspective on his/her problem or challenge and provide renewed energy to keep going in spite of the challenge or difficulty that he or she is experiencing.
Here Are Some Reasons Why Your Friend May Need Cheering Up
Maybe you're thinking right now "If only I could help!" or "What can I really do to help?"
Let me share with you some of the most common but very real reasons your friend may need cheering up:
- Loss of a baby or child (during childbirth or pregnancy, through an accident or sickness).
- Loss of her boyfriend, his girlfriend, a spouse, parent, sibling, family member or close friend (through sickness, an accident or natural death).
- Experiencing financial difficulty, loss of a major investment, loss of home or other assets. - Loss of a job or demotion.
- Still single and seeking a life partner. - Experiencing midlife crisis due to aging. - Suffering from depression.
- Everything seems to be going wrong (work, love life/marriage, finances, health)
You can't bring back your friend's loved one from the dead. Maybe you can't help solve his or her financial problem, marital problems, divorce, break up, illness, unemployment, loneliness or whatever other situation that is making him or her feel depressed or low in spirits but you can definitely provide some cheer and lift his/her spirits.
So I'll share with you some simple ways you can wipe away his/her tear drops with your thoughtful 'cheer' drops of love.
Photo Credits: All photos compliments Microsoft.
Sometimes our problems and challenges don’t go away as quickly as we want them to but you can help cheer up a friend by making him or her see and count other blessings in life and not focus on the one or few things that aren’t going right!
1 CHEER Drop:
Prepare a Home Cooked Meal
When your spirits are low, everything and anything seems like a chore including cooking and eating.
Prepare your friend's favorite meal right at his/her home. The aroma of the food being prepared and the knowledge that you care enough to spend time with him/her doing something that he/she is too depressed to do will lift his/her spirits.
Additionally, your friend may not have been eating at all or may have been eating only junk food. So you will be sure that he or she has a nourishing and healthy meal to avoid getting sick eventually and complicate matters even further.
Be sure to cook enough for a second meal, so that your friend can heat it up after you're gone. And bring along a food basket of goodies for some extra pampering. This will make your 'cheer up' gesture last a little while longer and sustain your friend's spirit a bit longer.
CHEER Drops of Goodies for Your Friend
Bring a bit of cheer to a friend with this gift basket of goodies which includes an inspirational "Get Well Soon - We Need You!" book, Silk flowers, chicken noodle soup mix, sweet butter cookies, lemon drop candy and a variety of Chai tea mixes in a reusable basket.
This healthy cheer up basket contains a special assortment of foods containing complex carbohydrates, folic acid, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids that act on your nervous system, help lift spirits and will help your friend feel more optimistic. All of this ‘healthful’ goodness is disguised in an assortment of chips, nuts, chocolate covered nuts, cookies etc.
2 CHEER Drops:
Clean Your Friend's Home
The very last thing you have energy for when your spirits are low is cleaning. Spend a day or half day cleaning out your friend's apartment or house.
Sometimes clearing the clutter around us can help improve our mood and give us a new outlook on our situation. The light and fresh feeling after a good house cleaning will significantly lighten your friend's mood.
Do some laundry for him/her. Pack away clothes, books and other items. Sweep, dust and mop using a nicely scented cleaner. Clean the windows to bring in light and give him/her a nice clear view of the outside.
Research shows that sights, smells and sounds can greatly influence our moods. So for the final touch, add some potpourri or other invigorating smell that will bring joy to his/her senses.
Inspiring Quotes that will make you smile
Give your friend the will to go on with these natural but invigorating scents – “green water lily & citrus, softened with notes of airy musk & cashmere woods for a scent reminiscent of freshly laundered linens.”
3 CHEER Drops:
Read to Your Friend
Sometimes your spirits are so low that even reading about how to cheer yourself up or motivate yourself can feel like an uphill battle.
Remember how good it felt to have your parents or an adult read bed time stories to you even after you could read for yourself? Well even if you haven't had that experience, I am sure you had the good fortune of having someone read something to you while you just processed it in your head; even if it was a work document.
Well you can buy a motivational or inspirational book for your friend and spend some time over a few days or weeks reading it aloud to him/her. You know your friend better than anyone else! So spend time picking out the parts that really speak to your friend's situation and read those parts aloud to him/her.
Your continuous company over those few days plus the soothing sound of your familiar and encouraging voice reading those motivational and/or inspirational words will honestly help to cheer up your friend because they would no longer be just words in a book from some unknown person.
Those motivational or inspirational readings would be infused with all the love, concern and care of a genuine and dear friend. It will mean so much more to your friend and be much more effective in bringing some needed cheer and lifting his/her spirits.
Funny CHEER Drops!
You can't be around your friend 24-7 (24 hours of the day, 7 days of the week), so give him or her some self-help that will always be around with this practical and sometimes humorous collection of suggestions to put him/her in a better mood.
Coping with the reality of aging can be depressing. Some of us cope better with it than others.This truthful reflection on aging interspersed with humor will bring much needed cheer and encouragement to your aging friend.
4 CHEER Drops:
Buy a Delicious or Funny 'Cheer Up' Gift
They say laughter is the best medicine and there's no lie there. Your friend could do with a good laugh right now and it is up to you to make it happen.
Have you ever seen something so silly or childishly funny that you just couldn't help laughing? Well getting your friend to laugh, even at something quite silly, will be a good part of his/her cure.
In their article titled, "Laughter is the Best Medicine", Dr. Jeanne Seagal & Melinda Smith remind us that, "Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict.
Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh."You can also rent or buy a good comedy and watch it together with your friend. His/her fits of laughter will release stress, relax muscles and will allow him/her to forget about problems, worries and challenges for at least two (2) hours.
What Cheer Up Gift Works for YOU?
Cheer Up! It's a Beautiful World
5 CHEER Drops:
Buy Some Inspirational & Motivational Books
Initially you can buy and read an inspirational or motivational book for your friend as I indicated earlier and then leave the book with him/her so that he/she can use it on his/her own as time goes by.Even after the worst is behind him/her, he/she will still need a 'pick me up' every now and then since life often sends us unexpected challenges when least expected. Whatever motivational or inspirational book that you bought to cheer him/her up during a "low season" in life can act as continuous inspiration well into the future.Added to that, he/she will have a fond reminder of you each time he/she uses or glances at that book.
Give your friend a daily dose of "feel good" inspirational medicine that he/she can pull out at work, while recovering in bed, when he/she wakes up in the morning or just before a meeting he or she'd rather not attend.
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When was the last time you brought cheer to a friend or a friend cheered you up?
AUTHOR@junecampbell: You are a wonderful friend, nightcats! Just last week I read about someone who had committed suicide and I was really sad because it was reported that his friends had no clue. However, many times its more like they IGNORED the signs. And little things like what you did can take someone out of depression. Thanks for visiting and have a blessed week.
Friends cheer me up all the time. I like to think I do the same. Yesterday I gave my friend a hand made birthday card and she seemed to enjoy it a lot.l
I belive laughter is the best along with being a good listener, sometimes you just have to listen, and course any one of your ideas here are the best. Nice Lens :)
- AUTHOR
@Kylyssa: I am so sorry to hear about your friend, Kylyssa! She's really lucky to have you as a caring and supportive friend. Go forth and read to your friend, Kylyssa. You should listen to yourself some more :) Reading is a brilliant idea! She will LOVE it! Have a blessed week and thanks for sharing this.
I've been trying to keep my best friend's spirits up as she goes through chemo for ovarian cancer. I had been thinking of reading to her but thought maybe it was a lame idea but you've shown me why it isn't.
- AUTHOR
@AnuradhaM: Thanks AnuradhaM! You're so right. Have a blessed weekend.
That are some good tips; helping others makes us feel good too.
- AUTHOR
@Brite-Ideas: Then these are very good friendships, Brite-Ideas! Thanks for visiting and sharing. Have a blessed week.
great page by the way - my friends and I do this often for each other - one in particular is going through a very sad time
- AUTHOR
@GrammieOlivia: It's great that you could be there for her, grammieo. God did say "In this world you will have trouble but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world." Whatever help you proffer to others in their troubles is His help through you. Have a blessed week and thanks for sharing.
Last night, trouble, trouble, and more trouble............an ice storm that damaged the roof, flooding in the basement and squirrels that want to call the attic home! Just being there for her to hold onto was helpful!
- AUTHOR
@Jerzimom: That's really great, CherylFay! Many people do not realize how they can be a blessing to others in simple ways. Have a blessed week and thanks for sharing this.
This is really great! Good ideas! Just yesterday. A friend called me and was just simply there for me to listen. Then we had a good laugh... it made things better. We talk all the time to keep each other's spirits up.
- AUTHOR
@aesta1: Thanks for visiting and confirming how cheering up does make a difference. Have a blessed weekend.
- AUTHOR
@LauraHofman: Your friend is very lucky to have thoughtful friends like you all. That was a very lovely gesture and I am sure it did lift her spirits. Have a blessed weekend and thanks for confirming my cheer up suggestions with this you and your friends' lovely practical demonstration.
There are many times when we do need cheering up and our friends can really make a difference.
Love your ideas! A group of us recently made a personalized gift basket for a friend who had cancer surgery. We put in inspirational books, light reading like People magazines, lotions, chocolates, cute socks, a goofy photo of her close friends, ...etc. It really seemed to lift her spirits (and ours).
- AUTHOR
@Fit And Fab: Your text to your friend was a very thoughtful act, FitAndFab! In the end it is the little things like this that go a long way and really matter. Keep that special empathetic and thoughtful part of you alive. Thanks for visiting and sharing. Have a blessed weekend.
These are lovely ideas. I sent some simple but reassuring words via text to a friend the other day and she said she needed to hear it. One thing I have learned over time is that we are not our thoughts. We can recognize an emotion and not let it rule us. Thank you for sharing these great ideas. I am sure many would find them helpful. :-)
- AUTHOR
@anonymous: Then your wife is a really great friend, Loveforlivinglife! Make sure to keep her around forever! Glad you liked my 'cheer up' advice. Thanks for visiting and sharing and have a blessed week.
My wife can always make me laugh with some off the wall comment. You have some great cheer up advice here. Thanks!
- AUTHOR
@WriterJanis2: Thank for visiting and endorsing my 'cheer up' suggestions! Enjoy what's left of your weekend and have a blessed week ahead. Always good to see and hear from you WriterJanis. I hope all is well with you.
You have some delightful ways to cheer someone up. We all get down from time to time. I agree how good laughter is.
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