At this time of year, we can find ourselves overwhelmed by gift giving … what to give, who to give to, how much to give, etc, etc, etc. It can become too much!
In our family, we put together our wish list helping to make things easier for everyone on what to give with lots of ideas. Or so we thought. One year for my nephew Christopher, it was the gift of the khaki pants. That was just one thing that he had put on his list. All in the family thought that would be a great gift to give. He received 15 pairs of khakis! We quickly learned that talking to each other about the gifts we were purchasing was a good idea. Who knew …
The art of giving gifts … gifts of sweaters, electronic toys, books, trips, “khakis” … is one that begins from the heart and the love we have for each other. We give to everyone in our life even down to the dog and cat. And, yet, we refuse to give a gift to the one person in our life that is the most important person of all … you.
Do you give yourself a gift?
A gift of permission that allows you to do something solely for you without the guilt that usually comes with giving to yourself. The gift to live the best life you can.
I work with clients that tell me all the time … “giving to myself seems so selfish, so wrong”. This is a typical way of feeling as you have grown up with the idea that you have to give first to others in order to receive something for yourself. The idea of giving yourself something is crazy! What we miss in this is that it is ok to give something specifically to you … receiving a gift from yourself is a wonderful way to value you.
Here is my challenge … give yourself “permission” to give a gift to you without the guilt. If you are giving to others, it is imperative to give back to yourself. Becoming depleted from giving all the time will not allow you to continue to give.
Choose you. Grant yourself permission to put yourself first.
So this holiday season, wrap a present up to you giving that gift that you would love to have in your life. Do it and surprise everyone around you.
This year, my Mom gave her family the gift of surprising her – she chose herself by giving the gift of freedom from gift purchasing. She gave us the money she would normally spend on us and told us to buy our own gifts, wrap them up from her and open them on Christmas Day. She can’t wait to see what she has given us as it is definitely something we are giving ourselves and her.