The season of giving

Do we really need so many things?

Christmas time, the time to be jolly, merry, festive, giving and everything else that comes with this Internationally recognised holiday. A tradition that has lasted over 17 centuries, celebrated across so many countries and various religions alike.

This St Nicholas character must have been a memorable one to create a legacy that has lived on for so many era’s. A legacy that after all this time has never really strayed from its one true meaning - to give.

So here we are in the 21th century, in our first world country, with our hard earned money and our derived assets, following this long running international tradition of giving.  As the seasons change and the month of December quietly sneaks up on us, much of society goes into a ‘giving’ frenzy.
Shopping malls become chaotic, roads become congested, and post offices become inundated with packages as staff rummage through the numerous boxes of online purchases. It has however never been simpler to shop from the comfort of your own home thanks to the likes of PayPal and Credit Cards. Gifts for family, gifts for friends, gifts for people that have bought you gifts, neighbors, the co-worker who you aren’t too fond of that you so unintentionally picked as your Secret Santa, the list goes on. Now sure you can muster up the brainpower to think of some great gifts for some of the people on that list but the rest is undoubtedly going to be some sort of irrelevant, cliché, counterproductive gift pack that’s making the middle guy 50% gross profit per pack.

The harsh reality is that last year Australians received over $1 billion dollars worth of unwanted gifts. One in four Australians will receive a gift that they do not want this year and at least one in three will go over their Christmas budget. The even harsher reality is that over 1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation. 2.2 million children die each year because they are not immunised and 15 million children are orphaned due to HIV/AIDS.

So during this time of giving try to put some things into perspective. After all St Nicholas did not drop a GPS down the chimney of a person who can’t drive, he dropped a bag of gold down the chimney of the poor and less fortunate.

If we have the ability to overspend by $1 billion dollars then surely we have the ability to give even the smallest of gifts to someone less fortunate than us.

Merry Christmas and Happy Giving!