I watched a little of the Ellen Degeneres show the other day, and was taken aback when a woman wrote to the show explaining and laughing about the gifts her in-laws have given her and her family throughout the years. I didn’t quite understand why she was making that public, her in-laws are alive and kicking and must feel a little odd with the public airing, (unless there was an agreement beforehand to get some laughs on TV), though it didn’t seem that way.
That got me thinking about giving gifts because sometimes it’s tricky. If you don’t show the right reaction immediately upon receiving the gift, it’s all down hill from there. They’ll be lots of questions coming your way. Or if you do show the right reaction, but the thank you is delayed, well, . . . Then there are the givers who want to know exactly how their gift is being used. They just need to know because they usually put much time, effort and thought into buying it. And yes, there’s always the money too.
A while ago I read that once you give a gift, let it go. What happens to the gift after you give it, and this was bluntly said, is none of your business. You did your part. Let it go. As far as the receiver is concerned, the gift should be happily and gratefully accepted, always, no matter what the gift. What you do with the gift after that is your business. To me that makes the most sense.
We can all relax. It’s all so easy.