“A meaningful gift can help create better relationships”
Kate and John Greenhalgh
A present shows that you care about someone and that you’re thinking about them. It’s not about buying them a pair of socks for the sake of it. A gift should be meaningful and purposeful, and something that you know the recipient will appreciate and benefit from. It’s that element of making someone smile and say, “Thanks! I really like this” — and the realization that someone has thought of you when they were buying it. Or making it. It could be anything from a poem to a card or picture.
A present doesn’t have to be something you unwrap on Christmas Day. It could be anything from a thank-you meal to breakfast in bed. It could be taking someone out for a Christmas meal, or waking up in a hotel on Christmas morning.
Buying a thoughtful gift benefits both recipient and giver. It’s good to enjoy the gratification of giving and being given a nice gift. If it is something like a subscription or an experience, then you get to see people enjoying it over the months to come, rather than it being done and dusted on Christmas Day.
There’s no obligation to buy a present in return just because you receive one. And if you do, this doesn’t have to happen at Christmas. It might happen later in the year, perhaps at a time when it’s more appropriate. A meaningful gift can help to create better relationships. This is true whether it’s giving business gifts at Christmas or family presents. A corporate gift can be just as well thought out and crafted as a personal gift. And Christmas presents and the Christmas market provide the economy with a much-needed boost.
With families being separated during the pandemic, gifts have extra relevance. Hopefully, families can be together this year, which will be gift enough for many. Buying presents is still important, especially when they’re for children. But with one in five gifts ending up in landfill, it should be a matter of quality over quantity.
Memories of a thoughtful gift last longer. It’s the knowledge of that gift, the consideration that goes with it and showing how much we care that really matters.