Sarah Von Bargen blogs daily at Yes and Yes about life, travel, cheese, and many other awesome things. She also helps small business and entrepreneurs become awesome on the internet. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter for more tips and updates!
Sometimes, when I think about my friends I get a little verklempt. And by “a little verklempt” I mean “at least twice in the last year I’ve cried about how great my friends are” (?!)
When things are bad, they send me flowers, bring me magazines and hash browns, call me from New Zealand, and get just as upset as I am. When things are good, they shriek with joy, give me high fives, and tell me they’re proud of me. We speak in a series of inside jokes and talk each other out of questionable boots/haircuts/sweaters.
Just like a good romantic relationship, I never worry if they’re ‘into me.’ I don’t have to worry, because I know we’re all totally, totally in L-O-V-E with each other.
Want to show your friends (or family or partner) that you think they’re The Best? Here are a few of my favorite ways to love up my people.
1. Post a funny photo or video on their Facebook page for their birthday
I mean, I would hope that you’re also going to call them/give them a gift/go to their party. But you know what’s better than a Facebook post that says “Hope it’s a good one!”? A hilarious video or photo pertinent to your friend’s interests. You know, like these corgis singing happy birthday or Ryan Gosling inviting her to “blow out her candles.”
2. Send them an email with a memory about them
If you’ve fallen out of touch with someone, drop them an email about something awesome you did together. Like that time you and Kathryn took the train to Taoyen, convinced you’d be able to find that basement hip hop club you went to one time and instead just ended up wandering around for two hours, drinking Red Bull and asking every 7-11 employee for directions in broken Chinese. You know.It’s a great way to reopen communication, remind someone you still think of them, and just be awesome.
3) Tell their partner what they’d like for Christmas/their birthday
One of the tricks of good gift giving is to ask your partner’s BFF what they’d like. However. Not everyone is aware of this trick or feels comfortable admitting they don’t know what their lover wants. You can help by sending an email along the lines of this one:”I’m sure you’ve already got something super awesome in mind for BFF’s birthday present, but if you find yourself stuck, I’ve seen her checking out these earrings, like, five times. :)”
4) Remember the anniversary of tough stuff
A friend who lost her mom at age 20 once shared a fantastic insight with me. She said that when you lose someone in your life or something really hard happens, people are really supportive for about a month. But then they move on and you’re still sad – for a long time. She said that it really helped her (and made her feel loved and supported) when people remembered the anniversary of her mom’s death and checked in with her around that time of year.So if your friend goes through something really tough – the loss of a family member or partner, a divorce, a miscarriage – mark that date on your calendar and in the coming years, make a point to email or text them on that date. Even if it’s just to say “I’m keeping you in my thoughts today.”
How do you show the people in your life that you love them? How do they show you?
