Some Thoughts on Gift-giving

I have very specific (and apparently somewhat controversial?) thoughts about gift giving. Here’s something for you to think about as you navigate gift-giving throughout your life.

My philosophy on gift-giving is simple: gifts should make the receiver's life better (and not make the giver's life worse, obviously).

As such, a gift should be at least one of the following:

• Something the recipient likes.

• Something the recipient wants.

• Something the recipient finds useful.

• Something the recipient finds meaningful.

  This could be a thing or an experience, and doesn't limit what a gift should be. In fact, it broadens the definition of what is a gift to be determined entirely by the answer to the question: who is this gift for? It certainly doesn't dictate what a gift should cost. Except for people driven entirely by monetary value, most people find a thoughtful $15 gift better than a $1500 gift that is nothing but expensive.

The point here is, gift-giving should be about what the recipient wants, and not about what the giver wants them to have. I think we’ve taken “it’s the thought that counts” too far and think that somebody should be grateful that someone gave them something, even if it’s something that they do not like. This goes back to a scarcity mindset. We should not have a “take whatever you can get” attitude about gifts, of all things. The act of gift-giving should be about abundance!