Don't get me wrong, I know some people get a true and genuine happiness from doing all that. If that is the case, then excellent. It is what makes them happy and they should keep doing that because it is what makes them an individual.
I, however, and most of the people I hear talking about gift giving, do not derive any great pleasure from it. Sigh. So why do we do it? Because it is what is expected of us. We expect because it has always been this way that even though we don't find happiness in it we should just trudge through and do it.
I do love finding special gifts for my kids. That makes me happy so I'll keep doing that. What I don't understand is why we feel we need to buy gifts for every teacher (seriously, they have to want to cry when they get the 3,427th gift that's shaped like an apple), the third cousin on your mother's side that you never talk to, or Uncle Ray that you don't really like because he's kind of an ass.
For me personally, the best gift anyone can give me is their time. I don't want stuff. Stuff sits around my house collecting dust until seven years later when I get around to taking it to Goodwill. Time spent with the people I love is so very precious to me. The time I spend with people is memories to treasure and conversations to be recalled and laughter (and sometimes tears). This is the best gift of all.
So before you go crazy running around town spending money you don't have on another $5 crappy gift that no one wants anyway, think about just giving the people you love the gift of your time. Bring them a cup of coffee or tea (or a shot of whiskey...ha ha) and just have a genuine meaningful conversation with them. Take a chance at being vulnerable and tell them what they mean to you and what they've brought into your life. That's the stuff people remember twenty years later, and that is a true gift.
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