Just a thought on this Christmas Day. Sometimes we tend to stress ourselves out at Christmas time, trying to find the perfect gifts for the people who mean the most to us, and then, sometimes finding that we are the recipients of gifts from others who we didn't realize were going to be preparing or giving us Christmas Gifts. Of course I can't speak for all people everywhere, but for anyone who has ever received a gift from me, please do not feel that you need to reciprocate!
The first definition of gift that google brought up for me is this: "a thing given willingly to someone without payment; a present, a Christmas gift."
If I have ever given you a gift for Christmas or at any other time, I'm not expecting anything in return. One of the tings I love about Christmas is finding a gift for someone I care about that will be useful and/or appreciated by them, hopefully to give them a bit of joy or to make life a little bit better for them.
Maybe sometime they will be in a position to gift me something in return, which will be appreciated, but definitely is not expected.
So, at Christmas time, please don't stress so much about the gifting. Do what you can with your time and finances and resources and your own willingness to gift or share, but don't ever stress or feel guilty about your own ability and desire to gift or to not gift. Gifts are not a debt to be repaid.
