35 Funny Ways To Cheer Up A Friend Who Is Feeling Sad

Has your friend gone through a breakup and she feels so sad? Are you looking for effective ways to cheer her? Here are 35 ways you should try.

By Gerald Matiri
35 Funny Ways To Cheer Up A Friend Who Is Feeling Sad

Is your friend going through a rough patch?

There are moments when life offers us a lemon. Nothing can be as difficult as having to watch your friends go through pain. This could be as a result of the loss of a loved one, loss of a job, a terminal illness or a breakup. When this happens, the best that we can do is to be there for our friends and try to cheer them up. However, you could be among the majority of people out there who don’t know how to cheer someone. When trying to help a friend cheer up, it is easy to try to make them engage in things that you enjoy. However, you need to remember that it is all about your friend and not you. You need to think of the things that your friend love and join them in them. Here are some easy tips that can help you to cheer your friend and make their day better.

1. Listen to your friend to cheer her up

When things are rough in your friend’s life, the least you can do is to cheer them up. At times, all that our friends need is someone who will listen to their problems. You may not be able to solve the problem they are facing. But it could be that the only short-term solution they need is someone to talk to. All you will need to do is to listen before letting them go.

2. Give your friend a hug

This may sound simplistic. However, therapist suggests that hugging someone can go a long way in relieving their stress and make your friend feel better. Hugging is therapeutically for both parties and can be helpful where it is not possible to say a word. According to research, a stress reliever known as oxytocin is released in the brain when we are hugging someone. A hug is a clear indication of the loving care where mere words or text can’t do.

3. Visit your friend

We tend to lose so much when we are speaking to the people we love on the phone or through text messages. This is because most of the human communication is through gestures, body language, and facial expressions. This means that we lose a lot of information when communicating through technology such as text. When you have a face to face communication with your friend, this helps them to feel better and you communicate in a better way as compared to calls or text messages.

Anni di pratica...

A post shared by Giovanna Pepe. (@iovanna.pepe) on

4. Send an encouragement note

Whether your friend is depressed or is mourning a breakup, a good idea would be to send the old-fashioned card through snail mail. However, where this is not possible, you can try to cheer them using an e-card. It will be important to make them know that you care. You can leave some cards and small gifts that your friend will find when they come out of the bathroom. It doesn’t matter how close or far you are from them, the card or note can prove to be very meaningful. This is because it proves that you are paying attention to what is going on in your friend’s life. Your friend will always have the card by their side to refer to when they need an encouraging word. To show them that you really care for them, you can write to them an encouraging message before sending the card. You can also choose to send a text to them.

5. Be funny to cheer your friend

Humor is and has always been the best medicine. When you friend is feeling sad, send them that funny video, picture or even voicemail message to cheer her up. Funny items are always a great way of cheering up that depressed friend.

6. Reminisce the old beautiful days

If your friend is depressed, you can try to reminiscence those crazy things that you ever did in the past. This can help to remind them that life is not always sucking and you are there to enjoy the good times. If it is possible to use a story that will cause your friend to talk about those funny and stupid things you ever did together, this will even be better.

7. Go out with your friend

At times, what a sad person need is only a change in the scenery. Take your friend out during a sunny day as this will help in the production of the feel-good chemicals.

8. Brainstorm

Consider whether there is a way that you can help your friend to overcome the challenge. You can pick a piece of paper and write various ideas as they flow in your mind. Avoid being judgmental as you do so. The most important thing is to write down the ideas as they flow in a free manner.

9. Show empathy instead of being sympathetic

It doesn’t help feeling sorry for anyone. There were times when you really struggled and felt as if you were defeated. You can use these feelings even as you try to put yourself in their shoe. Be willing to listen even as you communicate. In fact, you can use your experience to guide the person to be productive and happy.

10. Make dinner for her to cheer your friend

You can research on the foods that are good for relieving stress. Sharing food with her can also make your friend to relax comfortably in the problem at hand. This can also help to put the mind of your depressed friend off their troubling situation.

11. Take a walk with them

There are many benefits of taking a walk. One of these is that it helps to relieve stress. Probably what is necessary to cheer up your depressed friend is a stroll through a park. Not only is a walk free but the fresh air will be beneficial for your depressed friend. Walking helps to sooth the nerves and can go a long way in helping your friend to relax. This makes it a great remedy for a person who is sad.

12. Get comedy movies to cheer your friend

You can buy some snacks and sit with your depressed friend to enjoy a rib cracking comedy. Whether he is depressed or just sad, this can leave her bones tickling with laughter.

13. Take your friend to a spa to cheer her

You don’t need to spend a foot and an arm in a spa and yet it can go a long way in cheering your depressed friend. By the time you will be leaving, your friend will be feeling refreshed, relaxed and pampered.

14. Take time to volunteer

This may be hard to believe but volunteering can greatly help your sad friend. There are studies that have shown that people who volunteer sleep better, have high self-esteem and are able to gain a new perspective. Some of the nice places where you can begin with your friend include homeless shelters or even an animal orphanage.

15. Carry out a simple remodeling

It is not expensive to do a simple home remodeling and neither is it time-consuming. The benefit of this is that the final product can bring pressure and a great new perspective in your friend’s home. You may need to engage in a simple task such as rearranging the furniture to create a new look in the room.

16. Engage in gardening to cheer up your friend

Gardening can also act as a stress reliever. All you need to do is to ask your depressed friend to join you for some gardening activities. This will not only benefit the environment but you will leave the home spruced up. The physical exertion will also help your friend who has gone through a breakup to sleep better. Make sure you do not carry your phone so that you disconnect with the world. This is particularly because unwanted calls are not only distracting but can result in stress.

17. Ask some open-ended questions

Many people think that they should not ask their sad friends to speak about their breakup. However, giving people room to mourn will help them feel better. In fact, crying is known to be a great stress reliever as it helps to release any negative emotions creating room for positive feeling and thinking. By shedding her tears, your friend will be releasing the negativity and poison from the body.

18. Engage in art and craft

You can spend the day with your friend creating something. This is not only therapeutic but it helps to add to your creativity. If you don’t have a flare for art, you can engage in a simple project that is meant for kids. This will have a similar effect even if you don’t have the skills.

19. Make fool of yourself

You should be ready to make a fool of yourself in order to see your friend happy. You can engage in a funny dance or anything that should leave you embarrassed.

20. Go to a dance

You can get a group to organize a party and take your friend to their favorite spot and have them dance the night away.

21. Engage in extreme sports

You can take your depressed friend to enjoy a game that will make their Adrenalin to rise such as bungee jumping, sky diving or taking a walk to an amusement park.

22. Take a road trip

You can ask your friend to join you for a road trip to a scenic destination. If it is not possible to go on a road trip, you can turn up the radio before driving through a scenic part of town.

23. Explore tourist attraction sites

You can ask your friend to accompany you as you explore the tourist attraction sites in your town. You can even buy a cheap souvenir for your depressed friend. You can sit down outside the restaurant and take time to watch and visit different tourist attraction.

24. Give your friend a live plant

Rather than offering them a cut flower that will be dead in a few days, why don’t you give your sad friend a houseplant that they will love? The beauty of this is that they will enjoy the plant for a longer period.

25. Give your friend a new pajama

You definitely agree that a new pajama left you happy in your childhood. A new pajama is one of the items that can even bring joy into our adulthood. Ensure that you select for them something that is soft, fun and sexy. Choose something that your friend will appreciate.

26. Tell your sad friend that you love them

Rarely do we share with our friends how we feel. In fact, most of us have never told our lifelong friends that we love them. This is despite the fact that this is one of the ways of cheering up your depressed friend.

27. Ask your friend what they need

There is no problem in asking your friend if there is anything they need. Even if you aren’t a psychic, this doesn’t mean that you make a bad friend. In case you have tried all ways of cheering your friend up and they don’t seem to work, you should carry the weight with you. Instead, you should ask your friend what she needs. It could be that they are just sad for a moment and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. At times, what people need is to just take off the problem from their shoulders. Give them time to talk about it without interrupting, judging them or even giving them advice. This isn’t the right time to tell your friend of ways in which they should have handled the breakup better. This is because we all react differently to different situations in our lives. What can prove to be a mild irritation may, on the other hand, be a major catastrophe for your depressed friend

28. Take your friend shopping to cheer him up

You can take your sad friend on a shopping trip as one of the ways of helping him forget a breakup. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to go on an expensive shopping spree. The most important thing is to have a budget. You can even visit a second hand or even the thrift stores. Make sure that you are spending time together during the retail therapy.

29. Help your friend set some goals

If you are trying to cheer up your friend after a breakup, you can do that by helping them to set some goals. When your friend notices that they are able to achieve those small accomplishments, they will be in a position to think more Cleary. This can help to improve their mood. You don’t have to choose some complicated goals. The most important step would be to engage in some simple steps or objectives. All you need to do is to sit down and create some goals that are achievable. This could involve planning a get-together. The most important thing is to engage in something that is productive.

30. Show your friend the things that they need to be grateful for

At times, we look at the things that are going wrong and forget the many things that we appreciate. To cheer your friend, you can choose to show them the things that they need to be grateful for. By doing that, you can help them feel that it is not all gloomy and they can always count on you as a close friend. Research has shown that appreciating the little things in life is one of the helpful ways that are effective in lowering depression, reducing insomnia or increasing your energy levels. Even when your friend is at her lowest in life, there are still some things that you can be grateful for.

31. Distract your friend from the problem

Find a pleasant way of distracting your friend from the breakup, if this is the cause of their sadness. You can play card games with them, board games or you can simply talk about other things. This will offer your friend with a relaxation opportunity and can help to take their mind off from the challenge. While this solution may be temporary, it can go a long way in helping your friend to relax and think of a way of tackling the challenge.

32. Help your friend think positively

When going through a rough period in life such as a breakup, it is easy to get in self-pity. You can help your friend to get out of that pit through positive thinking. You can redirect the energy and instead focus on moving forward away from the negative feeling, emotions, and thoughts. This can go a long way in proving the positive energy boost and prevent your friend from plunging into depression which will ultimately cause the momentum loss. A good idea is to find that silver lining in the situation that will help you move forward.

33. Ask the help of your mutual friends

If you have mutual friends with her, you can ask their help. When you are not alone but have a group of good friends by your side to pick you when feeling down, you will be encouraged to cheer your friend up. If your mutual friends are not near, you can ask them to call or text your friend.

34. Learn a new activity

When going through a breakup, the most important thing that you need to avoid is remain idle. If your friend is depressed, you can make them cheer up by asking them to join you for a new activity. It doesn’t have to be a major one: learning a simple activity such as swimming may be enough to give her some sense of achievement and accomplishment.

35. Feed your friend

When sad or depressed, most people tend to either overeat or fail to eat enough. A good idea is to cook your friend’s favorite food to lift them when down. If it is not possible to be there personally, you can order for their favorite food and have it delivered to them. You can also take her to her favorite restaurant.

Final thoughts on cheering your friend

Probably you have tried lifting up your friend and you are not successful or you even made them feel worse. You will definitely be left feeling bad. This is due to the fact that your friend will still be in that bad mood and you will now be feeling like you have lost it. It is easy to blame yourself and feel that you are not worthy to be his friend. First, you will need to realize that you did not become a loser by trying to assist a friend who was in need. Secondly, you will need to know that it is your friend who needed assistance and not you.

RELATED POSTS