Little Things

I grew up with a generous and loving mother who seized every little opportunity to do good. I was born and brought up in a catholic home and we have a tradition of always exchanging gifts once a year, similar to Boxing Day. My mom would always make sure she put her heart into her gifts. Gifting is an art that we must learn to embody in our daily lives. It can bring joy and smiles on faces. No matter how small a gift is, it can go a long way in warning the hearts.

Growing up, I wasn’t the kind of person to receive gifts from people. I was on the giving end, not on the receiving end. I always made sure to remember my friends’ birthday and give them something special. During my high school years, I had a crush whom I had been admiring for years. At that time, I was active on Facebook; chatting, going through memes and liking pictures. My crush and I would always chat every day and keep tabs on each other. We grew close, and I knew I wanted to make her birthday special by giving her something really nice. I wasn’t working at that time, and survived solely on my daily “pocket money” which my parents gave me. Everyday, I’d save a certain percentage of my money for her birthday gift. I did this till the end of the semester, when I got her really nice things. The smile on her face was priceless. She thanked me for days.

All my life, I have always been giving and not thinking about myself. As humans, we tend to care so much about other people that we forget ourselves. Looking back, I don’t think I have ever gotten something for myself as a birthday gift. My plan is to get myself a new book for my coming birthday. It’s been my plan for a couple of months now. I just hope things go my way.

When it comes to gifting people, you don’t necessarily have to make it something expensive. Little things can go a long way in putting smiles on faces and warming their hearts. Before gifting people things, it can be helpful if you know what they really need and if it is within your budget, go for it. Once, I had a random person give me a cold drink on a hot afternoon when my sweat was dripping from my face down to the collar of my shirts. Pray, that was what I needed at that point and I appreciated it with all my hearts. Today’s INLEO prompts asks us to share our ideas on low budget gifts.

The first thing that came to my mind when I read this topic was beads or bracelets (the customized ones are better.) I thought I didn’t like beads until someone got one for me, and ever since, it has become one of my most cherished possessions. Sometimes, my friends come to my room and try to take it, but I tell them “no, you can’t have that hand bead. It is special to me because I got it as a gift from someone.” The little hand bead might be cheap, but it holds a special place in my heart.

Necklaces are also low budget gift ideas. You don’t have to go for expensive ones with shiny pendants or gold-plated ones. In my opinion, silver chains are better than gold-plated ones. So just go for a simple one with a simple pendant. To make things better, you can get one that has the initials of the receiver. For example, if the person's name starts with A, you can get a necklace with the letter A on it. It makes things better.

Another low budget gift idea is customized books or novels. I understand that I mentioned this because I am a book lover. If your friend (the receiver) is a book lover, nothing will make them happy more than giving them new books. Good luck gifting!

This is my entry to the INLEO prompt for day 9.

Thanks for reading.