Christmas Party I

Yesterday evening was spent at a friend's place for her Christmas Party. We did cooking, and enjoyed the usual Christmas yummies, plus my nice Spaghetti, garnished with pine nuts.

And of course, I was hoping that my gift of a CD I bought from That CD Shop costing me $60 for a normal gift exchange for I-Donno-Who would be well appreciated.

So we did the usual gift exchange, and it sort of gave me a good reflection about human behaviour and greed.

Well, not all are guilty, but it's enough for me to deduce something.

To me, Christmas is a season of giving. For all (I'd confidently say all, or 99.9%), are quite financially strong people, out-earning most of their peers not in the banking industry. But what was disappointing, were their disappointed faces when they opened the gifts and realised it was not something they really like, or that it 'looked' cheap. Somehow, they forget it's CHRISTMAS and not BIRTHDAY party. And gift exchange is just for the fun of it, and it doesn't really matter what you get.

For me, buying gifts is an enjoyable process. I'd like my recipients to love what I get, because every gift I select is done with only that particular recipient in mind. Similarly when I receive gift, I'm happy with just the action alone.

While I cannot demand everyone to be like me, and so in this case, I'm not referring to the Giver, I'm talking about the Recipient.

I actually saw one complaining about the gift she received! Was it because she was familiar with the giver, I don't know. But I sure know the meaning of appreciation and the meaning of GIVING on Christmas.

It's the excitement of unwrapping that gift, it's not about the content of what is inside. We can all well afford that gift we like, but our money can never buy that happiness of receiving a gift from someone.

For my lovely friends who've been stressed about what to get for me each time, I can tell you, it's not how expensive or branded your gift is. It's how much effort you've put in selecting my gift.