Gift Giving Ideas That REALLY Matter

It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that gift giving means spending money. Perhaps your holiday routine includes a trip, or ten, to the local big box store. Or perhaps a visit to a local arts and craft market. Or maybe even a few clicks online, and your shopping list is delivered to your door. A few hours of your time, and a few dollars, and it’s done.

But the gifts that REALLY matter, come from the heart.

THE GIFT OF LISTENING . . .
But you must REALLY listen. No interrupting, no daydreaming, no planning your response. Just listening.

THE GIFT OF AFFECTION . . .
Be generous with appropriate hugs, kisses, pats on the back and handholds. Let these small actions demonstrate the love you have for family and friends. Some times you just have to ask if someone wants a hug. Some times you have to ask if they need one.

THE GIFT OF LAUGHTER . . .
Clip cartoons. Share articles and funny stories. Your gift will say, “I love to laugh with you.” A friend and her sister regularly share postcards from their travels filled with jokes or puns about the locations they have visited. Another friend and his mother lovingly complete over who can find the ‘worst’ picture postcard while on vacations.

THE GIFT OF A WRITTEN NOTE . . .
Buy a bunch of blank notecards and write your own message. It can be a simple “Thanks for the help” note or a full sonnet. A brief, handwritten note may be remembered for a lifetime, and may even change a life. Don’t know what to write? Save poems, jokes, photos, quotes, and stories that you like and keep them handy. The minute you take to write something personal takes far less time than sifting through pre-printed cards–and it’s more meaningful and cheaper too. There are families where the written notes between grand-parents or even great-grand-parents have become treasured heirlooms.

THE GIFT OF A COMPLIMENT . . .
A simple and sincere, “You look great in red,” “You did a super job” or “That was a wonderful meal” can make someones day. There are also often unappreciated accomplishments that you can recognize. Know someone with a small child who is always on time? Or someone who works two jobs and still makes time to help others? Or perhaps someone you know who volunteers time to a good cause? Those are all things worthy of praise, and it doesn’t cost anything to recognize that and give it.

THE GIFT OF A FAVOR . . .
Every day, go out of your way to do something kind. Some people have a hard time asking for, and receiving favors. Pay attention though, and you’re sure to notice some way that you can help make life easier. Pick up kids from school, give a ride to the airport, grab an extra gallon of milk at the store to save a trip, take in the empty trash cans on garbage day, shovel their sidewalk after the snow storm.

THE GIFT OF SOLITUDE . . .
There are times when we want nothing better than to be left alone. Be sensitive to those times and give the gift of solitude to others. The gift below is also something that can be great for single parents.

THE GIFT OF TOGETHERNESS…
We all know couples with children, who are occasionally overwhelmed. Consider offering to watch their kids for an evening, so they can have an evening of free time alone together. That’s an amazing gift – and it comes from being a caring friend, not from being a department store shopper.

THE GIFT OF A CHEERFUL DISPOSITION . . .
The easiest way to feel good is to extend a kind word to someone, really it’s not that hard to say, Hello or Thank You. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us.

A gentle reminder — that the most precious things in life cannot be built by hand or bought by man.

 

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And I want to offer you a gift, too.

We’re heading into the last stretch of 2016. I hope you accomplished everything you set out to do, achieved your goals, and made this year the best one yet. But if it didn’t turn out quite the way you hoped, I’d like to offer you something that might help.

I’m opening up my calendar this week for a limited number of free 60-minute private mentoring calls to anyone who feels they could benefit from it.
https://allysonchavez.com/creationcall

We’ll sit down together over the phone (or Skype if you’re outside of the US or Canada) and clear any blocks that have popped up this year, get you connected to your vision for 2017, and create a plan of action for you to rock it out next year!

I’ve never done anything like this before, but it feels so good to offer this to you, I’m going to go for it! Consider this my Christmas present to you. There are 2 types of people in this world: those who will receive and those who won’t. Which one will you be? If you are the type that will receive, simply click HERE to pull up my online scheduler. Let’s connect!