Blog 4 - What is the wisest gift to give to one you love?

Recently in class, in the spirit of the upcoming holidays and time of giving, we read The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry. The story tells of a poor, young couple who each secretly sell their greatest treasure in exchange for a gift to give to the other for Christmas. Della sells most of her lush hair to buy a chain for Jim’s watch, and Jim sells his watch to buy combs for Della’s hair. Neither of them realise this until Jim comes home and sees Della’s short hair. They both ended up with gifts that neither of them could use, but they realised how far they were willing to go to show their love for each other.

After reading this story we were asked to write about what we thought was the wisest gift to give to one we love. First, I thought it would be best to give a loved one their favorite game, movie, book, or something of the sort. If you asked them what they wanted first, and then got it for them, they would probably be happy and enjoy the gift. But then I thought that was a little materialistic and decided to think a little deeper.

In The Gift of the Magi, Della and Jim gave up what they most valued for each other, implying that their love for each other was greater than any treasure. This led me to believe that the wisest gift you can give the one you love is everything you are able to give; the greatest thing you can give that the one you love will enjoy having. If the greatest thing you can give is a book, then so be it. If the greatest thing you can give if time, then give some time to that person. In my opinion the gift differs depending on your values and giving capabilities, and also on depends on the nature of the receiver of the gift.

For example, let’s say one were to give a really old, valuable book to someone they loved. But if the person doesn’t enjoy reading, and doesn’t appreciate the value of old books, the gift is meaningless to them. The book could’ve been the greatest thing the giver had, but unless the second person shared the value of the book, it wouldn’t be the wisest gift the giver could’ve given. This proves that both people have to value the gift for it to be a wise one.

To conclude, I believe that the wisest gift that one can give to one they love is the greatest thing the giver can offer and the receiver can enjoy; both must value it for it to become a wise gift.

I hope this blog post gave some insight on wise gifts to give this winter.

Happy Holidays!

-Chaitanya