Giving Means More Than Just Gifts

This time of year, the world seems sat­u­rat­ed with gifts. Com­mer­cials on TV, arti­cles in mag­a­zines, radio adver­tise­ments – even here! It seems like no mat­ter where you look, all you can find is talk of presents, sales and what we need to buy RIGHT NOW to show our friends and fam­i­ly how much we care about them. Kind of takes the joy out of gift giv­ing, doesn’t it?

Luck­i­ly, there are many ways to show your fam­i­ly and friends how much you care that don’t involve spend­ing a lot of mon­ey or stand­ing in long lines of cranky shop­pers. Here are just a few ways to show peo­ple you are think­ing of them this hol­i­day season.

1. Make a per­son­al­ized grat­i­tude jar. Use a small jar or oth­er dec­o­ra­tive con­tain­er and fill it with small slips of paper. On each piece of paper, write a dif­fer­ent rea­son you are grate­ful for them. Be sure to include some blank slips so they can add more to the con­tain­er with their own moments of grat­i­tude. When they need a pick me up, all they have to do is go to the jar and pull out some love from you!
2. Make a small, but thought­ful, dona­tion to a char­i­ty or cause you think will res­onate with the gift recipient.
3. Write a let­ter or a card. When is the last time you received an authen­tic let­ter or card from some­one you love? It doesn’t hap­pen too often these days, and at the end of the day, peo­ple just want to know that they are loved and appre­ci­at­ed. Take the time to write out your thoughts and appre­ci­a­tion, and you will make some­one’s day far more than with a $2,000 tele­vi­sion. If you have the urge to make it fan­cy, put it in a fun frame or throw some con­fet­ti and sequins in the envelope.
4. Give the gift of TIME! Bust out your sharpies and cre­ate a coupon for a favorite activ­i­ty to enjoy togeth­er – be it a walk in the park, bak­ing, or even a cof­fee date. Your loved one will get to spend time with you AND enjoy a favorite pastime.
5. Get in the kitchen and start cook­ing! If you know a friend is learn­ing to nav­i­gate a gluten-free diet, cook up some gluten-free snacks ready to enjoy. Is a par­ent try­ing to reduce sug­ar dur­ing the hol­i­day sea­son? Bake up some tasty treats sweet­ened nat­u­ral­ly with dates or maple syrup (check out this month’s spice cake!). The Cin­na­mon-Cacao Almond But­ter and Glo­ri­ous Gluten Free Gra­nola wrap up eas­i­ly and make deli­cious AND nutri­tious gifts.

Human beings want to love and be loved. No mat­ter how you express your care this hol­i­day sea­son, if it comes from the heart you can’t go wrong. Do you have a favorite authen­tic gift to give?