The Gift of You
The season of giving is upon us again. Every year, people become filled with generosity around the holidays, and this year is no different. In fact, according to classy.org, donations on Giving Tuesday (December 1st) amounted to $37,911,122! That’s over $18 million more than in 2019, and that’s just on one specific day.
Generosity takes many forms these days. Some people choose to give to charities, others choose to give gifts to their closest friends and family members, and even more do both. Some volunteer their time and some volunteer their money, but most people give something. That’s the way we are as humans - we give.
You may give a lot of gifts this year, or you may give a few. You’re fine either way. But many people forget to give gifts to one of the most important people in their lives - themselves. We spend so much effort generously giving to others that we’re all “gifted out” by the time we can slow down and remember ourselves.
There are a few ways to give to yourself - you can buy yourself the objects that you want, or you can treat yourself to a fun experience. But there’s only one gift you can give yourself that nobody else can - you can give the gift of you to you. And that’s more important than anything you can find on this earth.
Giving yourself the gift of yourself isn’t easy to define, but we can narrow it down by using some gift guidelines that apply to most gifts in general.
1. You want to give a good version of your gift.
Giving someone a rusty used fishing pole might help them to start fishing, but it won’t last them very long. Giving a high-quality gift can ensure that it won’t break before you make it half way through the next year.
2. Your gift should actually be usable.
Nobody likes receiving a gift that they can’t really use. The rusty fishing pole I mentioned above might work for a while, but if your recipient doesn’t live within an hour of a lake or river, they’re not even going to be able to give it a shot.
3. You need to know your recipient well.
It’s easy to find a “thing” to buy for someone - stores all over the place sell tons of “things”. However, to pick out the right “thing”, you need to know who you’re buying it for. Not everyone has the same tastes, and odds are, your recipient is going to be somewhat picky.
4. You want your gift to help make their life better.
Ultimately, you’re giving a gift to improve your recipient’s life. You want them to walk a little easier knowing that someone is looking out for them, and whatever you got them is going to show them just how much you care.
You need to give yourself the best version of YOU. You want yourself to benefit from how “good” you are at whatever you do. You only have this one life - you only have this one opportunity. You are the ONE person on this world who knows you better than anyone else. This giving season, give yourself a better you.
If you’re someone who wants to become the best version of yourself, why not check out some of our programs? We specialize in helping our students create the lives that they really want thorough self-awareness, skill identification, and mentorship - and there’s no better gift to get than the gift of yourself.