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| Uplifting messages, each in its own envelope |
One of my friends is a little depressed these days, so I decided to make her a Cheer-Up Box. I hesitate to make a post about this, because it is such a commonplace thing to do, but just in case there is anyone out there who doesn't know about this custom yet I will write about it anyway. Who knows, maybe one day I will get one myself!
Take a largish box, and fill it to the brim with lots of little, individually wrapped gifts, of the kind you have reason to believe the recipient will find comforting and uplifting.
There is no point, for example, in giving bottles of booze to teetotalers, or chocolates to someone who is depressed over their weight (unless they are underweight, rare these days, of course).
You have to put some serious thought into this!
It usually takes me at least one day of shopping to accumulate enough present to fill a Cheer-Up Box; a dozen presents is the minimum, though I think twenty are a good number.
Every present has to be wrapped nicely, of course - there is nothing cheery about a badly wrapped up gift! And do not use last year's Christmas wrapping paper, either - it looks like you can't be bothered to go out and source non-Christmas wrapping paper (so NOT a sign that you care!) and anyway the recipient may feel guilty about opening the presents - it would feel too much like opening Christmas presents early!
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| Mountain of gifts |
Next come the up-lifting messages! You will need to get as many little cards with envelopes as you have presents, and possibly one large card where you explain what the package is about - you don't want the recipient to open all the gifts at once!!!!
Having obtained the cards, you need to compose those up-lifting messages. If you run out of cheerful things to say, you can always google for appropriate sayings and quotes. Make sure you use your best handwriting, there is nothing comforting about a message that is impossible to decipher!
Having written your cards, and sealed them in their individual envelopes, you put them together with the wrapped presents into the box and convey it to the intended recipient.
From now on, until the box is empty, the recipient will go to the box every time s/he is sad, pick a card and a gift, and open both. If you have done a good job, the recipient will cheer up a little and find the strength to live another day. Task accomplished!
Now where is my box?
