Giving, Its the Thought That Counts

(Close up of a Token of Appreciation, see previous post, it is round, this is just a close up of the centre details)

I bet you can't number the times you have heard 'its the thought that counts', and you know its true, but it can have a hollow ring when it comes accompanied by a meaningless gift. What I am saying is, 'its the thought that counts' is usually an excuse for a lousy gift, where little or no thought has been given at all.

For instance, you might feel disappointed to be given a pair of socks at Christmas, but for me, I love cute colourful socks, and have a draw full, but there is always room for more, and I would be happy to receive another set..... for me the gift would be full of thought, for you perhaps not.

A gift that is full of thought is the most wonderful gift, a gift can show you truly know and love a person and all their quirks and the little things that bring them joy, without costing you a fortune.

If you don't have money to buy lavish gifts, buy or make gifts that are bursting with love and thoughtfulness.

I'd like to give you some examples from gifts I have either given or received just to get your inspiration rolling.

First one that I gave. A friend had to sell her holiday house because she fell on hard times. We had shared some great times there, as she had with other friends and family. I collected nine used matchboxes and glued them into a boxed set of draws, three on the bottom, three on top, and three again on top, covered the outside with lovely paper and then filled each individual draw with something collected on holiday at the house. Some pure white beach sand in one, some tiny but perfect shells in another, a dried and pressed beach primrose in another, a small downy feather found on the porch after the birds had nested there..... you get the idea. It may be a small gift, but one that can easily be kept in her home, and treasured as much as the memories it would help preserve.

Now one that I received. My friend made a little ribbon bound story book for my birthday, the cover had "17th October a Starry is Born" and purple star on it. Inside, each page had an illustration and the story was actually collected status quotes from different sites I use, eg my space, facebook... and the book then created an overall reflection of my personality and adventures. For instance "Starry fell into the freesias and now smells like fruit tingles", "Starry is back from the dentist with a clean, shiny smile", "Starry is dancing with herself", "Starry is full of chocolate", "Starry said 'boo' to a duck", "Starry spilt 1000 seed beads", the story ends with my favourite one "Starry is alive with happiness".

Anyway my point is we should stop using 'its the thought that counts' as an excuse to buy thoughtless gifts when with a little imagination we can give the most meaningful and usually economic gifts that stand out in the recipients memory all their life. Or at least make them feel loved and appreciated in that moment.