Ep. 395 - The Gift
Aug 19, 2026 · 12 min · 7 segments
No ribbons or bows, please.
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- JimHost
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Aug 19, 2026 · 12 min · 7 segments
No ribbons or bows, please.
Remember when you're a little kid? Maybe your first birthday party when you're in elementary school and you invited your friends over.
And they give you little gifts and you threw a big party with your mom.
What a gift from mom and dad.
Maybe you take your teacher in fourth grade, a banana bread that your mom made, and you give her that gift and you tell her, my mom wanted me to give this to you.
And she'll look you right in the eye and say, thank you so much for this wonderful gift.
Gifts are all around and they take many shapes and sizes.
They are made with nature or something that you piece together or something you wrote or something you drew or possibly just a kind word or an act of kindness.
You do not have to be rich with money to give the perfect gift.
A lot of times a smile and that person feels like they've won the lottery because you're the only person that smiled at them all day possibly or said hello or any of that stuff.
You know? Sure, women love flowers for a birthday or an anniversary or a get well or any of that stuff.
We all like to receive gifts.
I know I do.
Sometimes I feel a little guilty, though, if somebody gives me a gift.
And I should not feel that way.
As I get older and people ask me what I want for Christmas or my birthday or something, I always, always, always say, I don't want anything.
It's fine.
And I realized several years ago that I'm doing a great disservice to who's ever asking.
If it's my daughter asking me, because she just has no idea what to give me.
So I've tried to sandbag things that I possibly would like to have that I just never, ever got around to spending money on myself for.
As I get older, that's a harder, harder task.
There are things, like there's a book about the country I grew up in in Colorado, and I've always thought I'd like to have that book.
Even though I have not physically read a book in years, I listen to them on audio, downloadable audio anymore instead of cassette tape or CD, any of that.
I just listen to them on my phone now.
But I do like to read.
Remember when you're a little kid? Maybe your first birthday party when you're in elementary school and you invited your friends over.
And they give you little gifts and you threw a big party with your mom.
What a gift from mom and dad.
Maybe you take your teacher in fourth grade, a banana bread that your mom made, and you give her that gift and you tell her, my mom wanted me to give this to you.
And she'll look you right in the eye and say, thank you so much for this wonderful gift.
Gifts are all around and they take many shapes and sizes.
They are made with nature or something that you piece together or something you wrote or something you drew or possibly just a kind word or an act of kindness.
You do not have to be rich with money to give the perfect gift.
A lot of times a smile and that person feels like they've won the lottery because you're the only person that smiled at them all day possibly or said hello or any of that stuff.
You know? Sure, women love flowers for a birthday or an anniversary or a get well or any of that stuff.
We all like to receive gifts.
I know I do.
Sometimes I feel a little guilty, though, if somebody gives me a gift.
And I should not feel that way.
As I get older and people ask me what I want for Christmas or my birthday or something, I always, always, always say, I don't want anything.
It's fine.
And I realized several years ago that I'm doing a great disservice to who's ever asking.
If it's my daughter asking me, because she just has no idea what to give me.
So I've tried to sandbag things that I possibly would like to have that I just never, ever got around to spending money on myself for.
As I get older, that's a harder, harder task.
There are things, like there's a book about the country I grew up in in Colorado, and I've always thought I'd like to have that book.
Even though I have not physically read a book in years, I listen to them on audio, downloadable audio anymore instead of cassette tape or CD, any of that.
I just listen to them on my phone now.
But I do like to read.
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