It's time again. Time for the overwhelming commercialism of the winter holidays. Time for fat men in red suits, pagan traditions, and slight attempts to make the season less Christian-centered. But, most notably, it is the season for gift giving. Family, friends, co-workers, bosses, employees, mentors, mailmen, sanitation engineers and even pets get gifts this season, and it is changing our culture for the worse. "Santa Baby," "12 Days of Christmas," and virtually any other song you can think of, references gift giving. The most marketed holiday has become centered around a magical man who breaks into our homes and leaves us gifts for goodness sake!
Now, I am not against gifts, I love the idea of gestures of love and genuine care for others, what I am against is the culture that gift-giving has created. There is an old phrase, "It's the thought that counts," reinforcing the idea that it doesn't matter what you got, but that someone took time to get it for you. But why do we need a proverb to tell us to be grateful, to be a kind receiver, to understand your fortune? We live in a world where we create lists upon lists of items that we want, things that will supposedly improve our quality of life, but rarely do we acknowledge what gift-giving truly is, rather what we were given.
See, gift-giving is a practice meant to show compassion and care, it is meant for the giving of love. We have become so focused on receiving gifts that we have lost the idea of gracious receiving. We have to return to the base concept of gifting; centered on giving gifts for the sake of others, not receiving for personal gain. Our society is extremely individualistic, but if we are ever going to exist as citizens of the world that truly contribute to the overall well-being, we have to start small and start thinking of others now.
I am not asking anyone to break the bank buying presents for everyone around them, I am asking you to shift your focus on gifts. Shift away from wanting to truly receiving to acknowledging and admiring the love behind these gifts. To truly understand what you are telling someone when you gift to them. That we recognize the role of others in our lives. So go! Fly! Give gifts! Just try to shift the way you look at what you are getting.
