Everyone face this situation where they have to see their close ones upset. Life becomes unfair sometimes and seeing our closed ones upset is the worst. You want to help them but situations are not favorable for them to leave everything behind. A friend in such times can be the shoulder of comfort. Being a friend, there are tons of things that you can do to cheer your friend up. Problems are not of one size always which can be solved by a single solution. As a friend, you have to be ready for whatever comes in the path of the happiness of your friend.
For now, You can begin with these basic tricks to cheer your friends and make their day better.
Listen to them
Talking and having a meaningful conversation is the ultimate solution. If they are calling you or expecting a conversation with you be there for them. Try to talk to them and find out the real trouble that is draining the peace out of your friend’s life. If they are not comfortable in sharing then try to create an environment where they feel valued and divert your regular meetups into meaningful conversations. Let them spit out all the burden of words inside them. Your chatting session will help them by lightning their mood. Sometimes a solution can be found in questions only. This does not put you in the position of solving the problem. Your job is only to listen to them.
Give them tons of positivity
When a person is upset they generally surround them with a lot of negative vibes. Don’t let your friends get covered by these demotivating vibes. Always try to motivate them and build positivity around them. This might be a positive statement about life, about them or anything which helps them to see the beautiful aspects of life. Just make sure that no negative vibe can rule their thoughts. Try to fill them with tons of positivity.
Go for shopping
Go for retail therapy, it will surely divert your friend’s mind. You can go to a clothing store or can purchase something silly that you two have been planning for so long. If budget is a problem you can set up a fixed budget or you can do window shopping. The only purpose for shopping is about spending time together and have fun.
Bake together
Baking is a good therapy that eases depression and anxiety. The measuring and mixing ratio takes all your attention to the recipe. Paying attention in the baking procedure helps in pushing away the negative thoughts from your mind. The delicious food and its delicious smell will produce a happy feeling.
Use Technology
Technology helps you to stay connected with your friends 24/7. There can be a time where you can not physically present for listening to them. You can hear them over a phone call or can make them feel your presence around them. You can send them a good morning and good night text messages. So that they start and end their day thinking about your good wishes instead of the negative vibes.
Do Some Gardening
You can team up and do gardening together. Working with seeds, soil and plants is an ultimate stress reliever. Take a break from the world keep your phone aside and invest your time and mind in gardening. Gardening has a number of benefits. Physical efforts you put in gardening are an additional benefit for getting better sleep.
Be silly, Be kiddish and be limitless
Whenever you get some time to spend together, do silly things. You can play games together or can prank on each other or play your old school games together. Being kiddish and limitless will divert your friend’s mind and leave a happy vibe in their mind. It doesn’t matter how silly and kiddish you look after all, it’s all about having fun together.
Spend quality time together
Time is an important commodity. Spend some time together. Show up at their house with some magazines, movies, and stuff for a perfect day to spend with no intention of leaving any time. She’ll be very glad to have someone to kick back and relax with.
Surprise them with an outing
Traveling is a great solution when you want to distract your friend from unhappiness. It will fill their minds with new sights and places and will keep all the unhappiness and negative emotions away from your friend’s mind. You can opt for long vacations if you have a long weekend. If you don’t have a long weekend you can plan a short trip to a nearby beach or sights you like or you can go to the next city to hear your favorite band.
Instead of sympathy show them empathy
Showing sympathy at someone’s situation is of no help. Keep yourself in their situation and think. You will get to know how bad it feels. Instead of feeling sorry try to listen to them. Try to make them understand instead of avoiding, accept the situation. Guide them to move on and be happy and productive instead of hanging on back in the past.
Healing takes time. So, don’t worry if your friend didn’t feel better immediately after attempting these tricks. However, seeing you make the extra effort will definitely put a smile on your friend’s face. This will also work as a supporting hand and it will let them know they are loved when they are feeling down.