bizRichard

As you will know from reading my articles I am very keen on sharing and giving – I like to think I cultivate an ‘abundance mentality’ within and around those I come into contact with. Importantly, it’s a genuine wish to improve the circumstances of anyone wishing to take advantage of the opportunities offered.

Contrast that with the ‘empty’ giving because you feel under some ‘obligation’ to do so. There’s absolutely no benefit, to either party, in doing that.

Focussing on ‘physical’ giving for the moment, the futility of ‘obligatory’ giving is revealed in a recent survey from Citi – extract summarised below.

• Britons are set to recycle 73 million unwanted gifts this Christmas, passing on presents worth an estimated £264 million.
• Some 53% of people receive an average of three unwanted Christmas gifts, and almost half of these are given to someone else.
• Women are the most prolific recyclers, with nearly half admitting to giving second-hand gifts compared to only two-fifths of men.
• But 37% of the 1,000 people polled have discerning taste — saying they only pass on “nice” presents.

“A great number of us are missing the mark when it comes to buying the perfect Christmas gift,” says Alison Wright, chief marketing officer at Citi UK.

“But it is important to remember who gave each gift to ensure you do not commit the ultimate Christmas faux pas — and give somebody their unwanted gift back by mistake.”

The above just confirms my message – don’t ‘give’ (whether it’s physical, emotional, or intellectual) unless you really feel you can offer something special that can be appreciated and ‘add value’ (interpret in the widest sense) for the recipient in some way. Only then can the ‘bond’ (again interpret in the widest sense) be meaningful and fulfilling to both parties.

Wishing you a beneficial break during the festive season and – importantly – a successful and prosperous (again interpret liberally as ’success’ and ‘prosperity’ both means different things to different people) new year.

Richard C

This entry was posted on Friday, December 21st, 2007 at 11:52 am and is filed under Fun - Food for Thought, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.