I was at lunch the other day with a friend. We were discussing many things but one topic that came up was how we are all so different. What is pleasing to one person might not be pleasing to the next person. I was talking about the resale shop I had worked in for the last two months as a prime example. You never know what will appeal to a person. And the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” is definitely true.
Then we moved on to gift giving. And how you need to do it with no strings attached.
In that same vein we also discussed accepting the fact that the recipient might not like the actual gift. Back to the no strings business.
How many times have we given someone a thoughtfully chosen present? And then we never see them use, display or appreciate it? And we get a little miffed?
There is a reason for this. They probably didn’t like it. Or need it. Or it didn’t suit them. Or some other reason.
Maybe it wasn’t as thoughtfully chosen as we like to think. Sometimes we choose gifts based on what we think others need, like, or want. And sometimes we are dead wrong.
I can think of plenty of gifts I/we have given to folks in the past only for them to sit unused and collecting dust.
So, another lesson in the life book for me.
Be truly thoughtful when giving gifts. It should be about them and not about us. And when we are truly thoughtful and they still don’t like the gift then accept that. I am sure they appreciate the present. They just might not like it. And that’s okay.
We are all unique and our likes are quite varied. Clothing designers are in business because they know this.
I thought back to my recent birthday. A few of my friends gave me a beautiful red lacquered Chinese box.
Afterwards, I remembered a conversation that one of those friends and I had about Chinese furniture. She mentioned that she wasn’t a big fan of all the lacquer. I said that I had never gone in big for it in the past but that it started to grow on me and I now really like it.
When it was time to shop she chose a present that she knew I would like. Not what she liked or she thought I should have.
It shouldn’t be about us.