James Evangelista
The Best Gifts Are Moments Not Luxury

One week to go before Christmas! You know what that means, right? It’s time to buy gifts for your loved ones! Do you already have a list for your gifts? How much is your budget for each person?
Every December, this is what we do. It is already hard-wired into our brains believing that the best gifts are always materials. It’s not our fault we thought of it this way. Everywhere we look these businesses bombard us with images and advertisements about what are the best gifts for men, women, kids, and even best gifts for our budget. Our phones are part of this too.
These apps already got algorithms that show you advertisements about what you search in e-commerce apps like Amazon. Also, some of these apps even got your permission to use the microphone of your smartphone. Have you ever wondered why sometimes you have a conversation with someone about a certain product and then the product appears as an advertisement? It’s because we allow these apps to listen to us.
So let’s get back to the main idea of this blog post.
I think it’s time for us to admit that most of us buy gifts because society forces us and add the social media factor. Most people just want to flaunt their gifts in social media to get attention, validation and boost their ego.
There are some who even spend more than they could earn just to let people know they appreciate them. What’s worse is they drown themselves in debt and most likely go broke.
There are families who got these huge homes and spend tons of money to buy gifts, but are they happy?
What bothers me the most during Christmas is most of us like to wear a mask pretending that all of our problems especially financial problems are gone. We keep fooling ourselves that luxury and materialism are the best gifts. In fact, we spend so much on stuff that we don’t need.
What we need to realize is this: The best gift this Christmas are the moments we have with our loved ones. These moments can change our lives forever and it will be with us until we die. We need not spend much on these moments for us to be happy. Living in these moments will make you appreciate your life.
Remember: Money spent can be earned. Time spent is gone forever. Cherish these tiny moments this Christmas. You need not spend much on luxury to show your appreciation with one another.