With respect to receiving gifts, I have always thought that the nicest gifts are those that arrive without me expecting them. When someone surprises me because of the love they have for me and not because of specific dates that force some people to give a gift for commitment, I feel happy. In the same way, I try to give a present when it comes from my heart and when I can do it. When I give something as a gift I do it from my heart, whether it is a little or a lot, that gift is accompanied by genuine affection because I do not know how to pretend and I really do not want to learn how to do it.
I have seen on some occasions the pressure that some friends feel because they have to give a gift because they feel they have a duty to return the favor to someone who gave one to them. This seems to me to be a bondage that leads you to act in a chain based on absurd reasons. If they give me something expecting me to return a gift at some point, for me it stops being a gift and becomes a loan that I will not cancel because I simply will not be part of the club of those who give to receive or those who receive and implicitly feel the obligation to return the gift.
I do not mean by this that I am ungrateful, no, I am a person who greatly appreciates the spontaneous details of those who do not expect anything in return, except that the friendship grows and strengthens. Likewise, when I make a gift I do it with the intention of showing the person that I care and that I value their presence in my life, I do not expect anything material in return. I just want her to keep in mind that she is very important to me.
All this preamble is to tell you that today while I was in a public place with a friend, a friend I had not seen for a long time arrived. He saw me first and went to buy me a cookie, then he showed up in the square with the strawberry cookie and I was very happy to see him and I was also touched by the detail. My friend has many health problems, his life is not easy, however, his affection moved him to bring me that little gift that I was very grateful for, because it does not come from just anyone, it comes from a human being troubled with negative emotions and he took the time to give me a gift despite the emotional discomfort he suffers.
When I have to value a gift I pay attention not only to the person's intention but also to his circumstances. And although some may see it as of little value, for me it has more value than that expensive gift that they may give you out of commitment, duty or any misconception they may have in mind. I value small things, small in the sense that they are not in an elaborate package with a big golden bow, no, small because they do not require wrapping but they are very big because they nourish your soul, because they come from the true essence of a good human being. Those small things are giants for me because they tattoo in my heart kindness, fraternity and above all love.
Life is beautiful when we live it with spontaneity, without chains of favors that at the end of the day are not favors because we have to pay for them. When we are ourselves and give a gift because it comes from the heart without expecting anything in return. When naturalness flows and the commitments that bind us are cancelled. Life is beautiful when authentic love prevails.
The photos are my own, taken with a Realme 7i.