Gift a Gesture

Receiving a gift or a gesture is also an art. 

There is a lot to learn from parents and grandparents. All their sayings, experiences, stories, and even gossip are useful. One of the things I learned from such gossip is - How to accept a gift?

Dad told me a habit of a distant relative. She might be of age 75+ now. Whenever someone gives her a gift, especially her daughter-in-law, she will accept it and say yes it was good. If she ate lunch 5 mins before and was not hungry, still would accept food offered by her daughter-in-law. She never refused it. BUT, she did not eat also, as it was not suitable for her health. When Dad asked her about it, she said, if I refuse to take things from her, she may not offer me in the future considering I am not hungry. I don't want her to think this way.  

Ideally, we may find it silly, but practically such things happen. Remember that friend whom we did not call for a party because he refused to hang out a few times. 

If you analyze yourself, you will find that you don’t feel much worse for not receiving a good gift. BUT if someone does not appreciate our gift, we feel bad. 

I remember, in childhood days, we siblings used to create Greeting Cards for elders. We were more enthusiastic to create the card than to receive it. As we used to get praised for all the new creativity we tried. I think the same thing is preached for better parenting. I would like to extend that, this thing is applied in every relationship. 

You don't like it if your boss always refuses your idea without giving it a thought. Even if he gives a thought for rejection, we don't like it unless that thought is justified or conveyed. We may not feel bad, if the boss changes his gesture to, “Yes it seems good, BUT can you try to amend it this way…” Just a language change would also keep you motivated. I.e. how you respond to a gift/gesture matters a lot. 

We had a neighbor who every other day used to bring something to eat from her kitchen. She had good taste, no doubt. BUT slowly we used to feel not to take gifts from her, as if at all we offered her something, she always had reasons to refuse the same. If it was her love to share with us, we expect that she should also accept our offering. At least once in 5 times. I feel if you are not liking it or if you have any concerns, you can upgrade your language to refuse, or sometimes, just to keep the word, you should accept it. Just do not become an answer “NO” for any gesture.

If I relate it with Bollywood, we often see love taken for granted. It affects both, and after realization, the story has turned into something else. As we say, for a clap we need two hands, the same is true for love. Our responses to gestures are as important as our gestures themselves. 

Just accept the offering or change the language of “NO” to something motivating. This is applied in both, personal and professional life. Let’s upgrade our vocabulary. 

Just a changed word can be a gift to someone. Gift a Gesture in all possible conditions.