Christmas Giving
A few work colleagues thought it was just the festive Santa in me which drove the provision of gifts in the run-up to the most recent Christmas. What underlies the real spirit of giving?
Gifts, when shared or made, are best from the heart and obviously need not be material. They can at least be gestures and tokens of the feelings they try to express, at most are true sacrifices of time, sweat, concern and effort and, at best, be unseen and anonymous. Some of the fellow beings I am surrounded with have me amused, suggesting a myriad and complex framework of obligations that gifts must only be amongst family and those who decide or support their pay packet, or only when the giver gets something tangible in return, with the bathwater thrown out with the proverbial baby for others. This makes culling easier for most, but to me is very short-sighted.
I feel strongly in making an expression to show appreciation for those who have been kind and helpful to me in the past year, especially to those I do not have to or those who do not expect anything, and to send a strong and clear mesage to those who fall in the opposite dimension. It is not a gift, in my view, when one can authorise and/or organise a paid another to do the work and arrangements in one's name. A gift is making time and effort for another in a personal way.
To acknowledge thanks and recognition to a well deserved person only once annually, and near the commercialisation of Christmas time, can be just in bad and insincere taste. How have I been treating the person the whole of the year, and have I surprised such recipients of a gesture in a smile, a word of grateful expression or some unexpected act of reaching out, especially when it is least expected, at a point of time before the annual holiday season? Has this person reciprocated likewise? Gift giving at best can be a mutual exercise, a real process of give and take and enhancing the magical circle of enjoying each other's company in simple understanding.
Gift giving is not linked to a chain of outward expectations. The nature of gifts can be especially delightful when it reflects an innate understanding of the both the recipient and the giver. True gifts can outlast temporal vibes and be appreciated even if given only once. They are not subject to trappings, diverting appearances and need not be wrapped in glittery paper. Gifts are essentially tokens of conduiting and reflecting larger feelings. A gift that nurtures positive things in recipients beyond the seasonal hype lives up to the original meaning of the action. True gifts accentuate what is already encouraging in the recipients and make their star shine even more. They never pose a further problem but help to resolve partly what the recipient may be looking for. Reflect on this, you may have actually received a more valuable and unique gift, even when it was not obvious, not initially tangible and when it was not even Christmas.
Gifts, when shared or made, are best from the heart and obviously need not be material. They can at least be gestures and tokens of the feelings they try to express, at most are true sacrifices of time, sweat, concern and effort and, at best, be unseen and anonymous. Some of the fellow beings I am surrounded with have me amused, suggesting a myriad and complex framework of obligations that gifts must only be amongst family and those who decide or support their pay packet, or only when the giver gets something tangible in return, with the bathwater thrown out with the proverbial baby for others. This makes culling easier for most, but to me is very short-sighted.
I feel strongly in making an expression to show appreciation for those who have been kind and helpful to me in the past year, especially to those I do not have to or those who do not expect anything, and to send a strong and clear mesage to those who fall in the opposite dimension. It is not a gift, in my view, when one can authorise and/or organise a paid another to do the work and arrangements in one's name. A gift is making time and effort for another in a personal way.
To acknowledge thanks and recognition to a well deserved person only once annually, and near the commercialisation of Christmas time, can be just in bad and insincere taste. How have I been treating the person the whole of the year, and have I surprised such recipients of a gesture in a smile, a word of grateful expression or some unexpected act of reaching out, especially when it is least expected, at a point of time before the annual holiday season? Has this person reciprocated likewise? Gift giving at best can be a mutual exercise, a real process of give and take and enhancing the magical circle of enjoying each other's company in simple understanding.
Gift giving is not linked to a chain of outward expectations. The nature of gifts can be especially delightful when it reflects an innate understanding of the both the recipient and the giver. True gifts can outlast temporal vibes and be appreciated even if given only once. They are not subject to trappings, diverting appearances and need not be wrapped in glittery paper. Gifts are essentially tokens of conduiting and reflecting larger feelings. A gift that nurtures positive things in recipients beyond the seasonal hype lives up to the original meaning of the action. True gifts accentuate what is already encouraging in the recipients and make their star shine even more. They never pose a further problem but help to resolve partly what the recipient may be looking for. Reflect on this, you may have actually received a more valuable and unique gift, even when it was not obvious, not initially tangible and when it was not even Christmas.
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