Nine FREE gifts you can give for the holidays or any day!

With the holidays fast approaching and people low on cash I wanted to share these ideas.

1. The gift of laughter. Share articles with funny stories, clip cartoons. Your gift will say "I love to laugh with you".

2. The gift of a favor. Every day go out of your way to do something kind.

3. The gift of a written note. It can be short or long. A gift of a note may be cherished a lifetime and may even change a life.

4. The gift of a cheerful disposition. Extend a kind word to someone, a holiday wish, a "hello" or a "thank-you".

5. The gift of solitude. Sometimes we just want to be left alone. Be sensitive to those times and give the gift of solitude to others.

6. The gift of affection. Be generous with appropriate hugs, pats on the back,and handholds. Let these small acts show friends and family the love you have for them.

7. The gift of listening. But you must really listen. No daydreaming or interuption or planning your responses, just plain listening.

8. The gift of a compliment. A simple "that was a great idea", " you look good in that color" or "that was a great meal" can make someone's day.

9. Last but not least, the gift of unconditional love. Real love that expects nothing in return that is given straight from your heart. It is given expecting no reciprocation, no thanks and no love in return. It is given to those you love and those whom may be deemed unlovable, for it is easy to love the lovable, truly a gift if you can give love to those who are harder to love.

Reading an article on Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man on Wikipedia earlier made me realize how much unconditional love

en.m.wikipedia.org...

the people in London gave this grossly deformed man who had been in a freak show. Prominent ladies visited him, money was raised to keep him living all his days at a hospital, people wrote him, gave him post cards, taught him to weave baskets, and even took him to the theater. What unconditional love, compassion, caring and companionship was given to this man! The gift of listening the doctor gave when he visited daily and for hours on Sundays. The cheery dispositons and hand- written notes.

Let us all make extra effort to freely give these gifts to others, today and every day! May we as people today be more loving than those of yesterday.

S & F This is what the world really needs. If only everyone does this the world will literally improve overnight, but on the other hand I cannot see it happening.

Ya it would be cool to see things like this..
She has shown me a gift already so I suppose that is good enough..

Unconditional love.. Thats is an interesting concept.. Isnt some of the things some of us do like that already?
To feel that would be awesome.

These things are great but I prefer material items. They have more meaning to me. Just my own opinion.

reply to post by kaleshchand


Thank-you for your compliment, reading and listening. I figure if we want the world to be a place we want to live, then we are going to need to make an effort . So let it begin with us.

Here's another gift idea....

The gift of visitation. Find a shut in or elderly person at homebor a nursing home that maybe never has any visitors and visit them regularly.

reply to post by ThichHeaded

Your comments and insight are appreciated. I enjoy reading others thoughts and ideas.

It would be great to see more of this wouldn't it? : )

These gifts, although they don't cost money do require we give of ourselves and that can be much harder and cost us much more than buying a gift with money at the store.

For example, two more gifts I just thought of which brings us up to twelve.

11. The gift of mercy. Being lenient on someone and not giving them what you think they deserve. For example allowing a teen to go to a special dance even though they are grounded.

12. The gift of forgiveness. Forgiving others for messing up and not being perfect. Forgiving ourselves as well.

These two gifts are much harder to give as they go against what we often want to do. They require that we rise above circumstances and situations.

Giving unconditional love requires the ability to give the gifts of mercy and forgiveness sometimes. If not we are giving love to people under 'conditions' meaning if they behave or do things the way you want or think they should you will love them.

Let's do what we can to make this world a better place.

Originally posted by Elsek
These things are great but I prefer material items. They have more meaning to me. Just my own opinion.

Thanks for your input! Material gifts can be great but I think we should have a mixture of both. One costs money you have to earn, the other costs giving of yourself.

Some other free gift ideas:

13. The gift of babysitting. Give a friend or relative a coupon good for free babysitting so they can take a night out!

14. The gift of cooking. Give a coupon good for cooking dinner for someone or a couple, cook the meal, be the waiter/waitress and clean up the dishes. They can still buy the food but will be able to have more down time to relax.

Since you like material gifts you could also buy the food for the dinner or make it ahead of time and freeze it.

Can't play COD: Black Ops on a compliment!

Seriously, though, we have become a materialistic society and I think your post is a great reminder of what is more important in life.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Gifts from the heart are more meaningful than gifts of substance. Substance is good for a little while, but you can't take it with you...heart felt gifts are gifts that both sides can use.

Thank you for reminding those that read your post that humanity is capable of more than their negative appearance.

~holly

reply to post by Feltrick

Thanks for your input!
I agree that we do forget at times what really is important is not all sorts of material things.

Another gift: the gift of manners- being polite to people, saying please, thank-you, good day!

reply to post by Holly N.R.A.


Thanks Holly for your words of wisdom. Surely we can't take things with us.

Another free gift: the gift of a smile to others we see.

Yeah right,.
Here honey, I got you a box of love for Christmas,.
the blank stare,...
Honey, where are you going,. But I love you,..
Honey,... then the door slams shut..

Originally posted by Lil Drummerboy
Yeah right,.
Here honey, I got you a box of love for Christmas,.
the blank stare,...
Honey, where are you going,. But I love you,..
Honey,... then the door slams shut..

Thanks for your input.

Most people these days have a choice in who they pick for a hunny. Too bad often times hindsight is 20-20. Perhaps discussing with your hunny what is really of value would be a good thing.

Originally posted by Lil Drummerboy
Yeah right,.
Here honey, I got you a box of love for Christmas,.
the blank stare,...
Honey, where are you going,. But I love you,..
Honey,... then the door slams shut..

If this happens to me, I will have only two words to say: "good riddance"
really.

reply to post by LAinhabitant


Though we dont know each other, I would like to send you seasons greetings, and say thank you for this thread. It is indeed a wake up call for many. Your heart, your love, and you companionship, whether they know it or not is a great gift, and always appreciated by me.

This indeed is a gift that I can share with many. Appreciative or not. Just in case you dont get this from another, I would like to share a gift of "thank you" it is much appreciated.

Peace, NRE.

Originally posted by kaleshchand

Originally posted by Lil Drummerboy
Yeah right,.
Here honey, I got you a box of love for Christmas,.
the blank stare,...
Honey, where are you going,. But I love you,..
Honey,... then the door slams shut..

If this happens to me, I will have only two words to say: "good riddance"
really.

Thanks for reading and adding to thid thread. Your gift may be the gift of wisdom!

reply to post by LAinhabitant


Nice idea... and something we should do all the time. But as a "xmas gift"?!?
I can only imagine the 1) shock, 2) puzzled looks, and 3) tears when my kids come down xmas morning and realize there's nothing under the tree except me standing there ready to hand out their free 'gifts'.

reply to post by NoRegretsEver


I think in the hustle and bustle of daily life what is important sometimes gets overlooked. Thank-you for your kind words, seasons greetings and perspective. May we all remember this hoiday season no matter what holiday we celebrate to have love, compassion and kindness for others.

Seems most people are not wired for being human..
Shame that..
And people wonder why people like me go insane because of somethings..

Ditto to the babysitting gift idea! A date with my husband sounds marvelous.

I love these ideas. Short on money this year so I will use some of these for sure!