The Gift Exchange

Part of me misses the holiday shopping I saw going on in stores this weekend.  I used to enjoy the hustle and bustle, the search for that special item. These days my friends and family and I give each other the gift of time, a shared outing, or donation.  One reason we no longer do presents was that we came to know that often we weren’t satisfied with the gift and would exchange it.

I wonder what life would be like if we could exchange one of our talents for something we truly desire.  I’m not talking about when we successfully make radical changes.  What I mean is, what would you and I do if offered the opportunity for a true gift exchange?  Would you trade in your math skills or your ability to play the guitar for a chance to be a great photographer?  Would you give up being a mediocre cook to be a famous chef?  Perhaps you’re tired of being good at or the best at golf and want to master watercolors or crochet. 

Other things that one can argue are gifts in our lives are our circumstances, persona, viewpoint, body, and soul.  What if the gift exchange were extended to those?  I cling to the hope that in the next life I’ll be tall and willowy, but I don’t know that I would give up my early years as a musician just to experience that here and now.  Well, perhaps I would change out being able to give myself a decent manicure for a few more inches and fewer pounds.

What do you consider your greatest gift?  Patience?  Being a loving friend or mother or father?  Would you give that up in order to have a dream?  Notice that I’m not playing fairy godmother and suggest all you need to do is to ask for your heart’s desire.  This gift exchange fantasy calls for sacrifice, for one thing we all know about the best gifts we give ourselves is that we work for them.

Having given thought to what gifts you might like in exchange for something you do have, let’s close with a thought from Gian Carlo Menotti: “Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts that we have wasted, of all that we might have done but did not do.”

Let’s celebrate and use the gifts we have.  We live in a country that allows us to do that.  Thanks to all who serve who have made that so.

Marilyn