Bestie down in the dumps? Learn how to cheer someone up, stat.

Learning how to cheer someone up is a fine art… that doesn’t start with saying, “Cheer up.” (In fact, never ever (ever!) say it because it just makes things worse.) If your BFF is having a crap day, week, or decade, these are the moments that matter most in your friendship.

Personally, I love it when my friends feel like shit… wait, that came out wrong. What I mean is, I love being there for the people I care about: It’s kind of my thing. I’m so hopelessly awkward in basically every other area of my life that knowing how to cheer someone up has become a hobby of sorts.

So sit back, my dear grasshopper, and enjoy the following 16 ideas on how to cheer someone up. In fact, add them to your arsenal and get ready to score major brownie points with your pals:

1. Give her a funny gift, like this chocolate emergency kit.
2. Arrange to leave a surprise on her desk at work, either by coordinating with one of her co-workers or sneaking in on her lunch break.
3. E-mail her a gift card to your favorite juice bar or coffee house and let her know you’re available to talk, day or night, whenever she’s up to it.
4. Print out old photos of the two of you and snail mail them to her each week for some retro #ThrowbackThursday fun.
5. Make her a mix tape of the inside joke songs that remind you of each other.
6. Plan a movie marathon of all her favorite movies. Create a full movie theatre experience so she doesn’t have to lift a finger (and pause for venting sessions accordingly).
7. Make her favorite dessert and indulge to your heart’s content.
8. Ask her what she wants to do. In being a protective friend, we sometimes try to get our down-in-the-dumps bestie to do what we think will make them feel better, not what actually will. Let her call the shots.
9. Make her a bad day box. Even if you’re the grand poobah of how to cheer someone up, sometimes life gets busy and you’re unable to be there for them right away. Give her a bad day box she can tear apart at a moment’s notice until you can be her knight in shining stilettos.
10. Text her funny pictures. Who can’t be cheered up by pictures of kittens?
11. Lighten their load. For example, if her car broke down and she’s going through a financial rough patch, offer to run errands for her (or with her) until she’s back on her feet.
12. Send them a box of sunshine. Cheesy, yes. Effective, hell yes.
13. Play. Go to a theme park and win her a stuffed toy, or go to a park and play on the swings – just make sure that whatever you do, it’s completely juvenile.
14. Listen. Go for a walk together and keep walking until she’s gotten everything off her chest.
15. Do something nostalgic. Have her pick something you used to do together that’s fallen by the wayside, and make a date with your time machine.
16. Don’t say, “If you need anything, just let me know.” Say, “What can I do?” The first phrase has been ruined by every person who’s ever said it but didn’t really mean it. The second shows her you’re ready to kick some ass and help her get her life back on track.

What are your fave ways to cheer someone up?

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Image: Raleene Cabrera

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