It’s the time of presents and gifts. In the last couple of weeks I haven’t seen any advertisement block on TV without an ad for perfume and toys and electronic gadgets. I feel pressured to buy gifts, as if the only way to show my friends and relatives that I care is, to give them expensive gifts with x-mas. And if I don’t, than it’s a sign that I don’t care.
I prefer voluntary gifts. Oh, I still sent some season cards to my close family (probably for the last time). But I didn’t buy any present. In the next week I’ll give the people that are close to me a call, at a time when I feel like it and when it suits them, to listen carefully to what they have to say and what is going on with them. That’s my way to show that I care.
As a child I used to love presents and couldn’t wait to unwrap them. I’ll never forget the excitement and curiosity just before unwrapping them. Some years later this feeling was often followed by some disappointment. The present itself often didn’t meet my taste or lifestyle. I could appreciate the effort and the generosity, but often not the gift itself, so I started acting as if I’d like it.
Is there another way? What can you do with gifts you don’t like? You can always be honestly grateful about the gesture, effort and generosity and show it. That also makes it possible to tell that the gift itself is not totally up to your taste. Still, I often don’t dare and prefer to wait until some weeks later. Often I’ll give those presents to someone who does like it or to charity. And that makes me very happy again. Giving, and knowing that what you give will be appreciated.
It’s a form of leadership, of taking life in your own hands, to tell what you like and keep it, and to let go what you don’t like. It gives me a new sense of freedom!
I still love to give presents. I do it now all year through, whenever I find something suitable for a specific person, something I feel that he/she will like. Because I often think about the people I care of, all year through. In case they don’t like it, I don’t mind if they make someone else happy with it. But watch out, this is something else than re-wrapping an old gift and give it on because no one really likes it, because no one really cares 😉
For more inspiration, see the book “Clear your clutter with Feng Shui” by Karen Kingston.