I made a post on gift giving last week, How to Give a Gift, and at the end I made a little note at the bottom:
Sidenote: Gifts are really important to me. Gifts can be symbols of relationships for me. Gifts have the capacity to show how another person views me and can expose the character of the giver. But I also know some people are just really bad gift givers, like really bad, like gives a bejeweled ash tray bad. It’s okay, I can see your heart in it, I’m still your friend.
Gifts can expose the character of the giver. But it can also expose the character of the receiver.
When I give someone a gift and the look on their face is less than happy or isn’t so grateful, it can be crushing. It goes back to that fear of rejection. I never want to crush someone in that way.
I’ve always wanted to be the type of person that is happy for a gift because of the person who gave it, not necessarily the item that was given.
One of my favorite moments in character exposure is from Despicable Me. Yes, Despicable Me.
The minions give Agnes a TOILET BRUSH dressed as a unicorn to replace the stuffed unicorn she lost.
She lays in bed about to sleep. The smallest minion holds out the toilet brush, and without hesitating, Agnes proclaims,
“It’s beautiful!”
She gives him a kiss. The minion blushes and walks out of the room with the other two minions. Agnes holds the toilet brush tight, as a child would with a stuffed animal, and closes her eyes.
She receives A FREAKING TOILET BRUSH dressed as a unicorn because that’s the best they could give. And she accepts their best.
I want to be like Agnes. I want to love without expectation and to appreciate without complaint because that’s the best they could give.
It’s about shifting my thought when receiving a gift. When I receive a gift I try to think of the person who is giving it to me before I open it, and let that already be enough.
It seems to work for me. Try it the next time you receive a gift. Think of the person and their value in your life before opening the gift, let appreciation naturally flow and prepare your heart to receive whatever it is. Even if it’s a toilet brush.