One of the best ways to come up with a thoughtful gift is to find a solution to someone’s problem.
All you have to do is listen closely. Do they complain that something is difficult? Takes too long? Too expensive? Doesn’t work right?
All of these statements are clues to a problem, annoyance or hassle in their life. If you can come up with a solution, you’ve found yourself a thoughtful gift!
Let me give you a simple example.
I received a most thoughtful gift from my husband for Christmas, but it’s perfect to use for Valentine’s Day, birthdays and anniversaries. In it, he promised new experiences for us to enjoy together throughout the whole year.
Spend quality time with someone you care about by giving them new experiences you can share together.
The romantic way he promised it brought tears to my eyes. This was no empty promise.
In a letter, my husband wrote to me:
I spent some time thinking about what to buy you, but I couldn’t come up with any ideas for a new gadget or item that would make your life better or increase your happiness. I also thought about our life together, and how much I love you and how much we love sharing in new adventures. I want every year to be our best year together, so here are a few things I’d like to either do or start doing next year for us.
You don’t have time, you may hate shopping, or you may just have run out of good ideas.
But there’s no good excuse for not finding that special gift for that special someone. Whether for personal or business, gifts express how much you care so it’s important to get it right.
The good news? Customized gift giving assistance is now available through Sunburst Gifts.
We provide gift consulting to individuals and businesses by working one-on-one with clients to match the perfect thoughtful gifts to the person and the occasion.
The best part? We offer a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee. We really mean it.
So we suggest you give our gift consulting service a try because we will decrease your stress load while increasing the “Wow!” or “Awwww!” factor of the next gift you give!
This is a story of how small acts of kindness can change someone’s life in an enormous way.
During a company retreat of Wymer Brownlee, a financial firm based in Enid, Oklahoma, its CEO Kyle Brownlee asked his employees if they wanted to participate in a random act of kindness by expressing their gratitude to the pizza delivery guy who would be arriving at lunch. Together they could give him words of encouragement and appreciation and the tip of a lifetime.
All 72 employees agreed this was a great idea.
They spent part of their morning writing positive messages to this man they had never met before letting him know that he was important and that his job mattered. Then they pooled their cash together. Those who didn’t carry cash made trips to the ATM just so they could contribute.
It’s a wonderful feeling – the excitement of presenting someone with a gift that you’ve put so much thought into and that you absolutely know they’ll love. Unless they don’t… love it.
You’re blindsided. What?? No squeals of joy. No grin from ear to ear. No outburst of “It’s perfect! You know me so well!”
Instead, in return for your awesome gift, the recipient gives you a forced smile and half-hearted thank you.
Now that feeling – totally sucks. But if the movie Frozen has taught us anything, it’s to Let It Go.
Don’t carry around feelings of disappointment, anger or bitterness when your gift doesn’t get the reaction you expected.
I’m a true believer that happiness is finding joy in the little things in life.
That’s because you’ll have hundreds of small happy moments in one year, but only a handful of large happy moments.
Capture and collect your happy moments by writing them down and dropping them in your Happiness Jar.
When my husband cuddles with me before we go to bed, I’m happy. When I read to my son, I’m happy. When my co-workers make me laugh, I’m happy. When I eat a delicious meal, I’m happy. When I spend time outdoors in warm weather, I’m happy.
Sometimes we miss these happy moments because we’re focused on the negative things. The stress of work or family drama can overshadow the blessings in our lives.
A great way to start recognizing all of the happy moments in your life is to start a Happiness Jar. All you need is a jar or container, some scraps of paper, and a pen. Set the jar in a place that you will see it everyday.
Any time something makes you happy, write it down on a piece of paper with the date and drop it into the jar.
Each time you do it, good feelings will emerge. Be present in that moment and take time to savor those feelings. As you continue filling your Happiness Jar, you’ll find you become better at recognizing the happiness that sprinkles itself in the different areas of your life.
I have four nieces and I almost always give them some sort of experience as part of their Christmas present. So I thought it would be fun to have them play a Christmas gift giving game.
I bought four presents that cost about the same price and that all of them would like no matter which one they received. I wrapped them up but didn’t put names on any of them.
My nieces sit in a circle and prepare to pass their gifts left and right while I read them the story about the Wright family.
I gathered my nieces together, gave each one a present, and asked them to sit in a circle. I told them the rules of the game. Every time they heard the word “left” to pass their present to the left and every time they heard the words “right” or “Wright” to pass their present to the right. I told them to listen closely because the story gets awfully crazy!
Then I began to read out loud the following story. To make it even more fun, I read it quickly!
Kids love it when adults act silly. Silly faces and sounds will get them to laugh and giggle, and there is no more beautiful sounds than children’s laughter.
The Book with No Pictures
That’s because the reader has to say the silliest words and sentences like…
The rule of “The Book With No Pictures” is the reader has to say all of the words in the book no matter what. That’s the rule!
Children will naturally beg for the toys, games, electronics, and clothes they see advertised and sold in stores.
But parents and family members wishing to give more creative and unique Christmas presents will enjoy selecting from these alternatives to store-bought gifts.
RECORD YOUR OWN READ ALONG STORYBOOK
Pass on your favorite childhood books and stories to the next generation by recording yourself reading one of them out loud. Give a copy of the book and your recording as a gift. This gift idea can become an annual gift giving tradition.
The money box makes giving and receiving cash fun. Add a festive touch by decorating the box in Christmas wrapping paper.
Not all stocking stuffers are created equal. Just because something is small enough to fit inside a stocking doesn’t mean it should find itself there Christmas morning.
Don’t bother with trinkets. Instead, fill your loved ones’ Christmas stockings with some of these thoughtful treasures!
By using our Amazon affiliate links to shop, you will be supporting SunburstGifts.org, making it possible for us to provide you with more thoughtful, heartful gift ideas in the future!
digital tire pressure gauge
with the correct pressure written on it (the one my husband gave me has the tire pressure written on a small piece of tape)
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