Phew! This year’s Christmas shopping is done 🙂
As I returned home with all my bags, head spinning with all the joy my presents will bring to my nearest and dearest, another thought stroke me: The overscrupulous sense of justice Danish people seem to practice when it comes to giving and receiving presents.
During the past few years many of my closest friends have become parents to one or two children. This means that budget is low on many things – including gifts for Christmas. As a consequence most of them choose only to give gifts for their children, meaning that I am off their Christmas shopping-list. I have absolutely no problem with that, of course they need to put their children first.
But that does not change how I feel about giving a gift to someone I love. Whenever I give a gift, I always do it with a special thought for that particular person, who will receive the gift. Whether it is a gift for birthdays, Christmas or just a spontaneous “I-love-having -you-in-my-life-present” I always hope to spread joy to that special person. How much money it costs is not important … sometimes my budget is low, and then I will do small or homemade gifts. How much I see the receiver of the gift in my everyday life is not that important to me either. In fact, when I do Christmas shopping, I always see it as an opportunity to find a nice and personal gift to go along with a Christmas card, which shares what is currently happening in my life with a friend. I might not have seen that friend in a while, but he or she is still important to me.
None of this makes me think about which gift I might get back in return.
That is why I feel so sad when someone specifically asks me not to buy them presents because their (family)budget can’t handle to buy me anything in return. Well, I do not need a present in return … I just brought you something to make you happy and tell you what a wonderful person you are in my life! Luckily, all my friends and family have got the message by now, so we are done discussing that silly justice 🙂
I do hope this Christmas will be the one when more people skip the oversrupulous sense of justice. To receive a present is just as much pleasure as giving one. To be able to just smile and say “thank you” without thinking that you should give another present in return – that is true fun4free.
PS: If that is not enough for you try wearing a pixie hat for your sport.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND SEE YOU IN 2015.
