With the Christmas period upon us there is an increased awareness of gifting. The media is full of gifting ideas as we are whipped into a spending frenzy for the ‘silly season’. Apart from the commercial component of the Christmas period the season brings with it a reminder of the importance of directing our thoughts and resources towards others, especially those who we love or those less fortunate than us.
This brings up the question on what is the most precious gift that we can give another person.
The Christmas period is certainly a time for the giving of physical gifts and whilst it is pleasing to receive and to give physical gifts it doesn’t take long for their gloss to tarnish and the novelty to wear off. Whilst physical gifts can certainly consume a lot of money their worth is rather limited.
The real gifts lie within us. Whilst not wrapped in red and green paper covered with sparkles the inner gifts that we hold for others are priceless.
Attending to others needs and helping them in their time of crisis is a noble gesture that can certainly turn lives around. As Mark Twain said, “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” However, whilst help can get people over a ‘speed bump’ in their life it tends to be short lived unless it is accompanied by empowerment.
Another gift that we have within is the ability to offer a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free and can be worth a fortune. The acknowledgement of a child’s colourful and rather abstract display of paint on a page can inspire the great artist within that youngster on to great things.
A precious gift for each of us to bear is the gift of health. In the state of ease that health allows we are free to express our innate powers in their most appropriate ways. When we are not focussed on ourselves and our physical, mental and emotional deficits we are free to focus attention on those around us.
The most special gift for other person, however lie within that person themself. We may not agree with or even like another person’s actions or behaviours however, the most empowering gift that we can give another is the unconditional acceptance of their life. The willingness to accept another person as they are and not have to have them different in any other way is perhaps the greatest gift that we bear. This is the central theme of thein8model® – to accept people exactly as they are – there is nothing to improve, nothing to change. Sometimes it’s hard to not interfere and want to change another person to be, do or have that which we think they should. The gift of tolerance is the hall-mark of the great leaders and visionaries of mankind.
The cosmic twist on this gifting thing is that the more you do for others without expectation of return, the more you’ll get back from the most unexpected sources. This translates into a secret held by the rich and famous, that you can’t out-give the universe. So when you travel through life bearing your gifts you will be inundated with other’s gifts also.
What gifts will you bear?
