I’ve always held the phrase “It’s The Thought That Counts” almost literally. The way I see it, it’s a measure of not only thinking enough of someone to get, but, or make a gift for, but to affirm that you know them well enough to grasp what they might like or need. This to me shows a bigger, deeper, and more “thoughtful” connection. It says that you pay attention to the person, listen, hang out with, know, understand, and are close enough to know things that the person themselves may not always be aware about. However, by essentially the same measure, anyone you are close to such as loves, relatives, friends, or such should by the same token work to maintain their connections with you. By this I mean things like be available, communicate regularly, and share things such as likes and dislikes. This doesn’t mean you have to always like or dislike the same things, because I wouldn’t expect all my acquaintances to be virtual carbon copy clones of each other but you could at least share the information of what each of you like or don’t like. Communication is key to any relationship especially particularly close, important, or long lasting ones. It’s like a minimal requirement.
That being said, if your circle of friends, relatives, business associates, or other relations aren’t worthy of you putting in minimal effort to say, convey things you might like for presents, then don’t expect them to be able to either actually be capable of getting anything you remotely like or putting much if any thought into it. Mind you, if your idea of giving a list is to tell everyone EXACTLY what to get you, they may eventually give up bothering to spend time shopping or making said presents or may not bother getting anything at all. This is because they might end up feeling that there IS NO connection if there isn’t any mutual effort. Thus saying one thing at every event will backfire sooner or later or just making to feel items on said list. Thus I’d recommend as a rule of thumb to give at least five things said circle of connections can afford and probably two or three more generic/ broad interests to give a good broad baseline of options because if the options are too few then it’s more like a shopping list or a specific order than a “thought” as no time to process what to get is required. If you have to few items then there’s only that small percent of any thought. Five things means it’s a 20% chance of which you’d get. A randomness of that level is probably the bare minimum to allow actual thought.
It’s necessary to be flexible in both asking for presents for upcoming events and getting them for others. You never know if fate will make getting anything specific or on a very narrow list impossible, thus as a redundant backup add some generic options such as dinosaurs. That’s a pretty broad category of interest where people could find new things you never thought of but might be delighted to get. An example I can provide or two is, a sibling once got a game I never heard of nor asked for so what prompted that I can’t say precisely. It may have been because rpg elements, war, strategy, history, or based on a different country. However, to this day it remains one of my most memorable presents ever because that game not only became a favorite series that I got from repeatedly but also prompted an interest in that history and the books written about it. It was something relatively simple that on the surface might never have appeared to have such an enduring impact on me but it did. Without such flexibility, many opportunities will be lost. An aunt once bought me several books. It wasn’t expensive nor expected and though she lived fairly far away and I never really got anything else from her, it was another example because she knew I liked to read and horror and mystery and certain authors. Despite even then, not actually visiting each other often, she got me another of the most memorable presents because she got so much right despite lack of frequent contact than I’d have liked because I wished we kept in more contact since she was one of only s few relatives that had any similar interests to me.
So when I say it’s the thought that counts, I can say from experience that it often has much larger impact, impression, importance, significance, meaning, and appreciation than just any old gifts. So don’t be afraid to communicate now and then to anyone worthy of sharing holiday and birthday gift exchanges with or even make lists just make sure said lists or ideas shared during communication are flexible enough for wiggle room. Don’t just say you want this specific $100 Barbie or that $80 game.
epic philosophy 