The Gift
12.23.11 TME
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Educated Equestrian
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Educated Equestrian
“Mom, we have too many presents under the tree.”
My twelve year old said this to me, as I was preparing an article. I have to say, her statement surprised me; I abruptly quit typing and looked up. She had just finished wrapping a gift for her cousin, and was attempting to find a spot for it under the tree. I studied her thoughtful expression, and then the odd-shaped boxes piled beneath the small tree alight with white lights and gold beads. I did not see any indication of excess in my visual assessment. There were some gift bags, for a family exchange game we play, and two gigantic boxes wrapped in brown paper and twine string. These were the gifts my husband and I had made for the girls; a wall clock painted with the balance of opposites (Grace’s greatest joy is teaching Taekwondo), and a 100 inch coat rack to span the width of Beth’s room (she has a hat collection that would inspire envy in fashionistas, farmers and sports fans alike).
We spent more time working on these homemade projects than we did money on the rest of the presents wrapped in glittery paper and shiny bows. We are a financially conservative family, generally speaking, but my occupational change has necessitated a modest budget for gifts this year. Instead of quantity, I opted for quality of the items I selected to give. Grace will be receiving the largest Under Armor duffle I could lay my hands on. She has many years of toting Taekwondo and basketball gear ahead of her, as well as slumber parties and traveling. I wanted to give her not just a bag, but a quality tool, that would serve her for many years, and allow her to enjoy the activities she enjoys, without the distraction of ripped out seams or broken zippers. Beth will be unwrapping a jig saw, a Leatherman, and a birdhouse pattern. She has developed a fondness for building things with her dad, and while she has a large toolbox filled with hammers and screwdrivers, she’s frequently asking her dad to cut things for her. Paul says she’s old enough to learn to use a jig saw, and looks forward to teaching her how to use it in the shop. I envision the two of them spending the winter tracing the birdhouse pattern onto broken Taekwondo boards, cutting, screwing, painting, and the best part, gifting.
My twelve year old said this to me, as I was preparing an article. I have to say, her statement surprised me; I abruptly quit typing and looked up. She had just finished wrapping a gift for her cousin, and was attempting to find a spot for it under the tree. I studied her thoughtful expression, and then the odd-shaped boxes piled beneath the small tree alight with white lights and gold beads. I did not see any indication of excess in my visual assessment. There were some gift bags, for a family exchange game we play, and two gigantic boxes wrapped in brown paper and twine string. These were the gifts my husband and I had made for the girls; a wall clock painted with the balance of opposites (Grace’s greatest joy is teaching Taekwondo), and a 100 inch coat rack to span the width of Beth’s room (she has a hat collection that would inspire envy in fashionistas, farmers and sports fans alike).
We spent more time working on these homemade projects than we did money on the rest of the presents wrapped in glittery paper and shiny bows. We are a financially conservative family, generally speaking, but my occupational change has necessitated a modest budget for gifts this year. Instead of quantity, I opted for quality of the items I selected to give. Grace will be receiving the largest Under Armor duffle I could lay my hands on. She has many years of toting Taekwondo and basketball gear ahead of her, as well as slumber parties and traveling. I wanted to give her not just a bag, but a quality tool, that would serve her for many years, and allow her to enjoy the activities she enjoys, without the distraction of ripped out seams or broken zippers. Beth will be unwrapping a jig saw, a Leatherman, and a birdhouse pattern. She has developed a fondness for building things with her dad, and while she has a large toolbox filled with hammers and screwdrivers, she’s frequently asking her dad to cut things for her. Paul says she’s old enough to learn to use a jig saw, and looks forward to teaching her how to use it in the shop. I envision the two of them spending the winter tracing the birdhouse pattern onto broken Taekwondo boards, cutting, screwing, painting, and the best part, gifting.
I looked up at Grace from my chair, and gave her a sarcastic grin. “Well, I suppose I could pull some out…if you don’t want all those darn presents under there.”
She caught my meaning, and grinned back. “I don’t care, go ahead. I only need one present to know that you love me. And that’s just because no presents would make me feel...kinda bad. But one is enough.”
She caught my meaning, and grinned back. “I don’t care, go ahead. I only need one present to know that you love me. And that’s just because no presents would make me feel...kinda bad. But one is enough.”
This weekend, our family will celebrate Christmas. I’m excited to see them open their Christmas Eve jammies, their homemade gifts, and the store bought presents. But more than anything, I’m looking forward to the years of enjoyment the kids will have with the tools we’ve selected for them. With the service of these tools, they’ll develop friendships, see the world, or build and fix something. Sometimes they’ll do these things with their parents and each other; sometimes with old friends; sometimes with new friends. My hope for them, is that they will use these tools, and the skills they develop from using these tools, to make the world a better place. They will understand the importance of giving and serving their family, their community, their world. They’re small people now, but someday, they’ll be big. The small offerings they make right now are precious, and a good indication to me that they will give liberally as they grow into the brilliant, generous adults I know they will be.
"This stupendous age in which we live and from which we are just emerging has taken the soul out of people. Its leaders have driven workers as though they were pieces of cold machinery; they were forced to do so by the employees who bargained, at the expense of all concerned, to get and not to give. The watchword of the future will be HUMAN HAPPINESS AND CONTENTMENT, and when this state of mind shall have been attained, the production will take care of itself more effectively than anything that has ever been accomplished where workers did not, and could not, mix FAITH and individual interest with their labor.
Because of the need for faith and cooperation in operating business and industry, it is both interesting and profitable to analyze an event which provides an excellent understanding of the method by which industrialists and business people accomplish great fortunes-by giving before they try to get. "
Napoleon Hill, 1928 (2008 edition of Think and Grow Rich! including the author’s own syntax choices)
The value of the gift has little to do with the price tag at the store, the money spent on the item in question. Value and money have very little to do with each other, in reality. When we put on our hats and walk out the door in the morning, into the world at large, what is the value we bring? To our families, to our horses, to our communities? Before walking out that door, with high expectations of what we feel entitled to receive, what have we prepared to give?
"This stupendous age in which we live and from which we are just emerging has taken the soul out of people. Its leaders have driven workers as though they were pieces of cold machinery; they were forced to do so by the employees who bargained, at the expense of all concerned, to get and not to give. The watchword of the future will be HUMAN HAPPINESS AND CONTENTMENT, and when this state of mind shall have been attained, the production will take care of itself more effectively than anything that has ever been accomplished where workers did not, and could not, mix FAITH and individual interest with their labor.
Because of the need for faith and cooperation in operating business and industry, it is both interesting and profitable to analyze an event which provides an excellent understanding of the method by which industrialists and business people accomplish great fortunes-by giving before they try to get. "
Napoleon Hill, 1928 (2008 edition of Think and Grow Rich! including the author’s own syntax choices)
The value of the gift has little to do with the price tag at the store, the money spent on the item in question. Value and money have very little to do with each other, in reality. When we put on our hats and walk out the door in the morning, into the world at large, what is the value we bring? To our families, to our horses, to our communities? Before walking out that door, with high expectations of what we feel entitled to receive, what have we prepared to give?