How to Cheer Up a Friend

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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