For as long as humans have been conscious of the complexity of our relationships and interactions, it perhaps baffles the mind a bit as to why we just still haven’t been able to figure out some of the simpler aspects of our social interactions and relationships. I’m specifically talking about the gift-giving ritual. I mean, we insist on keeping the age-old tradition of gift-giving alive and yet we tend not to invest too much time in perfecting it — but we still insist on it. In addition, you always get the mandatory “oh no you really shouldn’t have” response, which would imply that we should really be moving on from the gift-giving ritual, but then the recipient very quickly turns into the gift-giver and so the cycle continues.
The truth is though it’s nice to receive gifts and some people might go as far as saying that it’s even nicer to be the one doing the giving. It’s really nice to see how someone’s face lights up when you’ve handed them a gift they clearly didn’t expect, especially if there’s every indication that that gift is truly appreciated, perhaps in the sense that it turns out to be something really useful and thoughtful, like a care package from UnboxMe (which you can check here if you’re interested in getting one arranged) with a few items that you’ve chosen yourself in it to show that you’re thinking of them.
So how do you perfect this gift-giving ritual then? It seems to be a challenge many people are losing their battle with and it definitely isn’t easy, that is until you put some effort into developing your “gift-giving” skills. It doesn’t take a lot really and buying an e-book is not what I mean when I say “putting in some effort.” You also won’t have to stretch your mind too much, but some effort is required some time before you actually feel you need to get someone a gift in line with their upcoming birthday or something like that which conventionally requires a gift.
Perfect the skill now, and it’ll be very easy by the time gift-giving season arrives. What you have to do is not think about money at first. This is hard, I know, but the money and affordability factor comes afterwards. What you need to think about is what the person you’re going to give a gift to likes. What would make them smile? Would a Jostens college ring make them feel happy? Or would an e-book subscription be something that could make them giggle?
If you can come up with something that will make them smile, even sometime after you’ve already handed the gift to them, you’ve mastered the art of gift-giving. This is where the difficulty of it comes into play though because the link between what would make someone smile and what you can buy to induce that smile (a real smile, not just a polite one) is never an obvious one. I mean who would have thought that something like a set of customized paper cups would make for such a great gift for someone whose one love in life is coffee? Every morning when they wake up and brew another cup of coffee, the personalized, disposable cups they got as a gift from you will act as a constant reminder of your thoughtfulness and bring a smile to their faces. You could also give a personalized portrait of your friend or partner, with their four-legged friend. It could do the trick if they are someone irrevocably in love with their pet! You could get them personalized pet face gifts, which will not only brighten their day but also make your gift something they treasure, for a lifetime.
Master the art of observing what makes the gift-recipient just a little happier or more comfortable in their lives and you’ll never have a problem buying gifts again.