The best gift of your life
A gift that you should receive and give at some point in your life
“The excellence of a gift lies in its convenience and not in its value.” Charles Dudley Warner
We have all gone through this: feel excited about opening a wrapped box. Whether it’s your birthday, a special date or festivities, receiving a gift is something special. The anxious action of uncovering what hides what you expect (or not). The positive surprise when you finally discover it. And that emotion of joy that expresses itself through a grateful hug to the person who has given it to you.
It is unquestionable that when you receive a sincere and spontaneous gift it is a great pleasure. Especially if it comes from a person you love.
Sometimes we delimit the symbolic value of a gift for its rarity, price, quality or even if it was made especially for you, for its sentimental value. But as Charles Dudley says “the excellence of a gift lies in its convenience and not in its value”. The gift is more appreciated when we give it an immediate utility and it is suitable for you.
We can talk about which gift is better. That depends on the tastes, that if it is a man or a woman, of the age that it has. In short, we can find innumerable variables to give the “ideal gift”
But there is a gift that will never go out of style, which will always be a pleasant surprise and that will be valued all of life by both the person who gives it and the person who receives it.
3 GIFTS FOR THE PRICE OF 1
I want to talk about the kind of gifts you do not give on birthdays or special dates. But that not for this, it means that they are not highly valuable and convenient. I want to talk about a non-material gift, that which requires “something special about you”, a high gesture of you. It is not enough for you to wrap yourself with paper, put a bow, touch the door and say: “surprise”. There is a deeper value that is given in giving that present: Commitment.
One day, I was watching a video of Diego Dreyfus about marriage, there is a question about what marriage means to you. By thinking a little, I wanted to answer that question as a personal exercise. I summarize that comment to a belief that has been built by experience (7 years of an unchangeable relationship and two beautiful daughters):
“Marriage is not fashion (or no longer), it’s a commitment. And this is not only with another person but with yourself; is to strive to be “more”, something bigger than yourself every day that remains of your life. To assume the role of serving someone else is to bond with depth. “
This is a higher value, because it goes beyond your individual self to create something completely new and that if you did not do it that way, it could not be achieved: EXPAND AND TRANSCEND. You and the other person: The two together.
There are 3 clichés and I love them, which illustrate the above:
1.- “Give your best” .- Sounds good, does not it? Very logical and basic. But do you know what is best about you?
2.- “Be yourself” .- Yes, be authentic, do not use “masks”. As in the previous sentence, it requires that you know how to define yourself. What is your brand ?. What do you value more about yourself?
3.- “Give yourself” .- There is no gift without delivery. Provide your conscious effort to be there. That is, to be present, in body and mind. It is the commitment.
THE GIFT UNPLAWNED
Without removing the excitement of opening a gift, something that is recognized as “convenient” will be valued even more than the one that gives a surprise.
The gift that you deserve and that all the people around you also deserve, is the power to enjoy the best version of yourself. Your person expanded, exponentiated, empowered, energized.
Giving that gift of yourself to someone else, call yourself a couple, children, close friends, relatives, co-workers and even strangers, is a high expression of yourself. It is a virtue and definitely, the generator of virtuous behavior. What you think and act tends to attract similar and related things to that frequency. We speak then of virtuous circles, which, maintaining themselves, open up other superior behaviors, always for the benefit of both the person who gives and the person who receives.
The wonderful thing about this is that you can exchange roles, almost naturally. There is no need to ask for it because the very act of bestowing the best version of yourself, results in the need to compensate or even imitate it.
Many times, we act in a minimal expression of ourselves. We put on or assume roles according to what we have learned or practiced. For example, a lawyer has a series of expected behaviors and lives according to them. But it is only the tip of the iceberg.
Continuing with the example of the lawyer, you can also be a father, friend, son, brother or even artist. That is, when you only perceive yourself in a single plane, your behavior is also flat and limited. But if you look closely, you will realize that there are many things that you are good at and that you assume that way gives a much more extended version of what you really are. Deeper. It is the highest expression of yourself.
You deserve it and the people who love you
too …
