Here's A Great Idea For A Christmas Present

Fellow Riskologist,

I watched the horror of Black Friday unfold the other day from the comfort of my living room. I’d check out CNN or The Huffington Post throughout the day to see the ridiculous headlines emerge.

Children getting trampled for a pair of socks. Two ladies tasering each other for the best deal at Wal*Mart.

And what are these people doing? They’re Christmas shopping!

Running a business myself, I don’t begrudge a good sale. But seeing the monsters we can become during a time of year when we’re supposed to be thinking of ways to give and care for one another causes me some inner turmoil.

But fear not. There is a solution!

If you don’t want to be part of the holiday shopping mad dash, but you’re wondering what to get everyone for Christmas this year, I have an idea. You can buy it for everyone on your list.

In fact, I feel confident saying it’s the best Christmas gift you can get anyone in the world.

It doesn’t matter if you’re shopping for a man or a woman. A husband or a wife. A child or an adult. It doesn’t matter if they already have everything they could ever want or have nothing at all. It doesn’t matter if they’re rich or poor, eccentric or conservative, an avid traveler, golfer, photographer, painter, carpenter, technophile, movie goer, hunter, baseball card collector, ham radio operator, alien conspiracy theorist, or indulger of any other odd interest.

You give it just once, but it’s received by many over and over. And the best part? It’s a gift universally loved by everyone who truly believes the spirit of Christmas.

Ready to know what it is?

It’s a charitable donation.

Several years ago, I talked everyone in my family into giving up the idea of Christmas shopping and, instead, to make a donation to a favorite charity.

Rather than trying to come up with a list of things I might want but could just buy for myself:

A Moleskine
A new jacket
Umm… what else? I’m really bad at making Christmas lists…

I made a list of people I’d like to help:

Homeless youth in Portland.

My parents picked “hungry families” in their home town. My grandparents picked “immobile elderly” in their neighborhood.

When Christmas Day came, there were no presents under the tree. And guess what? No one missed them! Instead, there were envelopes with receipts for the donations we’d made to each other’s favorite charities.

Rather than write on a fancy stack of paper (Moleskine) for a few months, I got to spend the whole year knowing the money went to help a high schooler kick a heroin addiction and get a job before ending up on the streets.

And rather than get Mom yet another set of scented candles, she got to feed a hungry family for weeks.

If you haven’t experienced it yourself yet, I can testify that the feeling you get knowing you made someone less fortunate’s life better outweighs any feeling you get receiving a present yourself. The feeling is so good, in fact, it is a present.

When you get a normal Christmas gift—something stuffed in a box and wrapped in paper—the best you’ll ever feel about it is the moment you open it. After that, it’s all down hill. Even if it was an amazing gift perfectly crafted for you, it eventually falls by the wayside.

When you give (or receive) a donation to a worthy cause, the feeling of happiness is just as instant, but it lasts forever.

I can hardly remember a single Christmas gift I’ve received throughout the years. The ones I can are a nice memory, but they don’t hold a (Christmas-scented) candle to the donations that have been made in my name. And each time I remember, it makes me feel just as good as the first time I received it.

And the best part? Everyone who truly loves Christmas also loves this gift. You can’t go wrong!

Think you can’t do this with young children? Think again!

Sure, you’ll want to get your child a little something to play with, but think of the amazing gift you’d be giving your child by instilling the characteristics of kindness and gratitude in them by teaching them the true meaning of Christmas at such a young age.

Maybe, instead of a donation, you could take your children to a local organization to volunteer their time. What kind of impact would that have on their lives down the road?

If you’re looking for the perfect presents for the people in your life who you love so much, at least make the gift of a charitable donation a serious consideration this year.

This Christmas, I’ll be making a donation to my favorite charity, Outside In—on behalf of all Riskology.co readers. If you’re looking for a worthy cause to support, I’d encourage you to do the same. You can make your donation in the name of “The Riskology.co Community” or, of course, anyone else you like.

I hope I’ve solved all your Christmas shopping needs!

Yours in giving,

Founder, Riskology.co