Someone I know posted a note on his Facebook page recently that he was feeling depressed about certain things in his life. He received a reasonable number of comments from friends who were concerned about his well being. Some were insightful, while others were just silly clichés.
I know they were meant to try to cheer him up and they came with wholly good intentions. But, little quips such as Hang in there buddy....when you're down, there's only one direction left to go....and that's up! don't do anything to really help a person who's feeling sad or depressed.
Whenever I see a friend who's posted something on-line about their struggles in life I'll take the time to try and assess their situation and write something meaningful. Something with concrete suggestions of what they may do (or in some cases avoid) to try to remedy the situation.
I never try to sugarcoat things either. Because the last thing you want to do is give false hope. Failure is always a possibility and people have to be prepared for it as well.
I think if someone is truly a friend the least you can do is invest a bit of time trying to come up with a bit of advice that offers attainable solutions, don't you?
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