I posted this on Facebook a year ago, and to be honest, I forgot about it. That is until today when someone liked it. I re read it and started wishing I would have rediscovered it at the beginning of the hectic holiday season.
Everyone is in such a hurry to find the perfect gift, rushing here and there, using up their life energy to find it. What if that perfect gift was as close as your phone? You know what I mean, that thing you are probably reading this on. It really is a multi functioning tool!!
Not only can this be a perfect thing for someone on your list, it is also a gift to yourself. What a bargain! Two for one!
I was chatting with a friend a while ago. She was lamenting over getting a gift for a mutual friend.
My suggestion was - give her an experience.
Her response - I can't afford to give an experience! That stuff is expensive!! Then I explained.
The gift of an experience is not a big trip. It could be something as simple as finding a new coffee roaster, going there and having a cup of coffee enjoying the fact you are together chatting. Or to a bakery that is out of the way known for pie, a card or letter, whatever your imagination can come up with. Maybe a trip to the zoo. Or simply sitting on a park bench enjoying the weather having lunch. Or a phone call just to laugh at things in memory lane. Yes, phone calls are gifts. (Even to those of us who have come to hate phones)
A gift of experience doesn't have to be something big, heck, it doesn't even have to be from someone else. You can give yourself gifts of experiences.
The gift is connection. That connection will last longer than things.
Think of it this way. Things are just things. They can be useful, or decorative, even wearable. But they get old and fade, maybe break, go out of fashion or just become a bother because it is one more thing to handle or deal with.
An experience is forever!! The memory is always there accessible. The laughter or the simple serenity of the moment the sunshine feeling warm on your face and the breeze gently blowing your hair.
So we all can give each other and ourselves those memorable gifts.
