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| Accepting The Spirit of Gifting |
Several times, when a gift is presented to us, we experience a range of emotions and questions. Happiness, sadness, disappointment, anger, indifference, etcetera. Is it a nice gift? Is it as we hoped for? Is it good quality from a good brand? Is it useful? Does it meet our expectations? And many more such questions! Well, those questions are similar to a raging ocean and mostly, we do not even realise the under-currents that our mind is swamped in. These are at a subconscious level. Essentially, many of us may be bothered about the gift itself rather than the spirit of it and the person giving it. In that context, here is a short and sweet story that makes a vital point of appreciating and nurturing the spirit of gifting rather than only the gift itself.
There is a legend often passed on from generation to generation of a simple young man who was roaming the desert with his throat parched with thirst. He then came across a natural spring of delicious crystal clear water. The water tasted so sweet than anything he had tasted in his life, perhaps his thirst had heightened his sense of taste too. He eagerly went on to drink his fill of the sweet delicious water. While doing so, he remembered his tribal elder who had been his mentor and teacher through out his life and decided to take some of the sweet tasting water as a gift to him. He filled his leather canteen to the brim and began his journey back to his teacher's village. After several days journey, he stood before his mentor beaming and presented him the precious water as a gift. The wise old man smiled warmly and took a deep drink. He thanked the student profusely for the gift of the sweet water. The young man was very happy and returned to his village.
Later, the teacher shared the drink with another of his students. However, the student after tasting the water, cried out aloud and spat it out saying that it tasted awful. Apparently, the water had become stale on account of it being stored in the leather canteen. He was surprised and asked his teacher how he liked the water when it was foul. The master responded to his student that he tasted the spirit of the gift whereas the student only tasted the water. The canteen had served as a container for an act of loving kindness - there could be nothing sweeter than the gesture itself!
In a similar vein, our 6 year old niece regularly makes and gives us gifts. She innocently makes necklaces of all kinds of stuff that adults may typically not consider as gifts if they were to receive from other adults. She draws, paints and makes crafts for us. In themselves, perhaps, they may or may not be much. However, when we thank her for the gift and tell her how lovely the gifts are and her thoughtfulness in presenting them to us, her face turns radiant with happiness. There is nothing that can match that feeling of happiness. It is also appreciation and gratitude for any person's thoughtful gesture, young or old, rich or poor, irresctive of gender, that is more important than the gift itself. With children, it is even more so as it nurtures a strong value system and heightens their creativity. The idea of gifting and its thoughtfullness is more important than the gift itself.
➤ Life Lesson: As we all know, gratitude does not come naturally to us. It is something that we have to genuinely practice and get better at. If someone thought of us and gifted to us, then we have to recognise that feeling that comes out of the heart and genuinely appreciate and thank them for it.
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