From late fall all the way into winter months, many people are preparing for their gift-giving seasons and events. Many families celebrate holidays like Christmas or Hanukkah, which are known for different kinds of gift giving, while families of different faiths or descent may have traditions like a Family Love Day they share together.
Whatever you do –or don’t—celebrate, gift-giving season can be a joyful time to show the people you love how much you care. However, it can also become a time of year marred by expectations, obligations, and resentment. It can even be a source of arguments between couples and families when there’s differing expectations about who to visit, how much to spend on travel, and how much to spend on gifts. And as if that isn’t enough, every generation seems to think that the next is more entitled and self-centered than the last—whether or not the descriptor has been earned.
Nobody wants to look back at these special moments with regrets. What can you do to promote a good attitude and harmony this season?
Lead by Example
One of the best ways to bring more gratitude into your life is by starting with yourself and looking inward. Do you say please and thank you as appropriate, even when you don’t feel like it? It may seem basic, but good manners are the foundation for true gratitude. If you struggle with this, you can try sharing little moments of gratitude aloud. Even if Grandma isn’t present to hear you say, “I’m so grateful Grandma was thinking of me,” speaking that into existence can encourage those who are around you, and affect them positively as well as help your brain train itself to focus on those positives.
This is especially important if you have children that you’re trying to impart this lesson to—children are sponges and look to their trusted grown-ups to learn what’s expected of them. When they see you modeling basics like good manners and more complex emotional skills like gratitude and patience, they take it to heart and learn to model their behavior after yours.
Keep Your Focus
In our fast-paced, advertisement-drenched world, it can become easy to equate how much money someone is willing to spend on things with how much they care about you. This can even lead to entitlement, feeling like you deserve to be treated in a certain, often lavish way. While there’s nothing wrong with gift giving or receiving, it’s more valuable to consider the intention behind the gift.
What does that look like? Well, try asking yourself some of the following: Was it thoughtful? Did it take them effort to find? Were they considering what they know of you, your likes and dislikes? Were the givers’ motives genuine?
If the answers to those questions are all “yes,” then whether or not the gift itself is what you expected, there’s plenty of aspects you can focus on being grateful for. If you have any doubts about whether or not the person really had your best interests at heart, then perhaps that’s something to consider at a time when feelings and circumstances aren’t heightened.
Consider Activities that Revolve Around Giving
We’ve all heard the ancient proverb that “there is more happiness in giving than in receiving,” but just because its well-known advice doesn’t make it any less powerful!
Giving back to your community is a powerful act that builds bonds and creates treasured memories. If you have a place of worship, maybe you can help with its cleaning or maintenance between services. If you don’t, there’s still countless Seacoast organizations that would gladly accept an extra hand! Some organizations you could look for are food banks and food pantries, shelters for unhoused people, or animal rescues.
If you don’t have the health or circumstances to be boots on the ground, you don’t have to feel left out. A little creativity can go a long way when it comes to making the most of what you can do. For example, maybe you aren’t able to set up a food drive and transport heavy donations to the food bank. However, maybe you could start a virtual food drive by encouraging your social media network to donate to their local food banks and share a picture of the donations under a specific hashtag.
It may take some work to cultivate, but gratitude never goes out of season!
Here at AZTEC Financial Group, our team is grateful to be able to work with and assist our clients! What are you grateful for?