Check your calendars because it’s just 19 days before Christmas!
We can feel the holiday spirit everywhere, not just because streets and houses are decorated with Christmas garlands and lights but also because everybody has imbibed the spirit of giving.
You may have missed Black Friday and Cyber Monday but that doesn’t mean your friends and family won’t appreciate gifts from you at your incoming Christmas parties. So if you haven’t shopped for Christmas just yet, there’s no better time than now!
Holiday gift-giving may be considered by others as a capitalist ploy—blending with the consumerist society that dictates we should give one another gift because everybody does it. But, with all due respect, we beg to differ. Cliche or not, it’s really the thought that matters! Our love language may be gifts but for us, the mere gesture of giving something tangible (and receiving as well) this holiday season is something that makes it even more special; more so, if it’s a reflection of love and affection.
But then again we understand if you just feel obligated to give gifts so we listed some ways on how to make the whole gift-giving process more meaningful. Here’s how you could make it more genuine and enjoyable for you the giver and whoever will be your recipient.
1. The first step is to know your recipient.
Know the recipient to come up with a great, thoughtful gift. If you know what ticks their fancy, you would be able to pick a gift that would excite and make them the happiest. You could go through the stories and memories you shared together which will give you an idea of the best gift. Another tip is to not give the same gifts to any of your friends because they won’t be personalized, and will lose their significance to the particular person.
Another factor is practicality. Don’t go for fancy gifts that people couldn’t use. For example, you gave a gift certificate in the Bahamas but the recipient may never be able to use it because the airfare would cost him or her more than the gift certificates you gave. A gift certificate to a cheaper but closer restaurant is more practical and something the recipient can use. Studies have shown that fewer people prefer fancy gifts and wish for the more practical ones. You should always remember to give a gift that the recipient would like and not give a gift just because you want to have better your image associated with that gift.
Buying something that would improve a person’s everyday life is a great gift, especially if it’s something they don’t want to splurge on themselves. Say, for instance, the recipient must have become a remote worker just recently. He or she has been complaining about neck and back pain. Buying them an ergonomic office chair is something they would most likely appreciate because it will give them comfort while working daily. You may also give them a height-adjustable standing desk that could improve their efficiency while working at home. Both of these could be both, in great quality, at FlexiSpot.
2. Take time to customize gifts or give away the family’s heirloom.
Something that you personally made could never go wrong. It could be brownies that were in the oven for hours, a sweater that you have been knitting for weeks, a poem that you personally wrote, or a video compilation of your memories together that you took the time to edit. People feel more loved with handmade gifts because of it’s thoughtful, different, shows effort, and are full of love.
A family heirloom or something that meant a lot to your family across different generations would most likely make the recipient feel part of the family. These are things that money simply couldn’t buy.
3. Gift experiences.
Again, if you know your recipient well, you should already know if he or she prefers memories more than physical gifts. If so, prepare a gift experience; examples of which include a concert pass, a flight ticket, or a gym membership. When they go with or without you, they would for sure not forget that the ticket or the experience was awarded by you.
However, most often than not, givers hesitate to gift experiences to people they are not really close to. They might assume that the recipient may feel off about it or put malice into the invitation. On the contrary, this is actually the safe bet. Research has discovered that those who expect material gifts and receive experiences instead are actually left satisfied after the experience. And if you’re being anxious about spending the experience together, you don’t even have to! Once the recipient uses it, the memories of that experience will last forever.
4. Donate to a cause on behalf of the recipient.
According to the Dalai Lama, altruism is one of the cures of depression or anxiety. When you pay it forward or give your friend a chance to do that as well, it would most likely make them happy. Studies have found out that happier people give more to charity. The International Journal of Happiness and Development discovered that more people became happy after giving with acknowledgment versus giving anonymously.
Some companies allow you to buy something and would equal your purchase with a donation. Take for instance the green initiative of FlexiSpot in the US. The company vows to plant one tree for every purchase of its sustainable bamboo-made products on behalf of the customer’s name.
Final Thoughts
Gift-giving was never about the tangible object, but more so, the act itself and the intention behind it. People could tell if something is genuine or not. Consider your gift as an expression of love that the end goal is to make the receiving end happy, and not you. This would show your unconditional love as the image that you create from the gift you’ll give, doesn’t matter to you. The focus is on the recipient, because Christmas, as established, is a season of giving.