Teen time: Experience the exhilaration of gift giving

Christmas is right around the corner and is already filling the streets with cheerful decorations, lights and laughter. While all of this is fun, the hardest part of this time of the year can be shopping for presents for others.
Each person you get a gift for has different likes and dislikes. It can be really difficult to get gifts for friends and family. Usually, parents say they want anything homemade, while we teenagers usually want something much more exciting than that. Teenagers usually like gift cards, music, clothes, jewelry, games and so on.
Some of the best memories are opening up presents that you really wanted and having a smile on your face. But I think the best part of Christmas is seeing others enjoy what you gifted to them. Whether you bought or made something doesn’t matter, as long as you made the person happy. It’s a wonderful feeling to give happiness to others, sometimes more than to yourself.
Buying or making gifts doesn’t make a gift less or more special. When you see friends or relatives open what you gave them, you get exhilaration running throughout your body, because you accomplished your gift-giving job. You always can tell when you did a good job when you see their eyes widen and their mouths open and they gasp with excitement.
Of course, receiving gifts is nice, but on the other hand, we usually get more excited giving gifts. Isn’t Christmas about giving, anyway, and spreading joy? Yes, it is.
While most of us get gifts and presents, some less fortunate families don’t, and that’s why it is great to help with canned food drives, Toys for Tots and other local fundraisers. Helping during Christmas time is something we should all contribute to, because it makes people feel good during the holidays. When getting toys or clothes or blankets for other needy families, you will feel great on the inside, because you are helping give someone an incredible holiday who you don’t even know.
Generosity is definitely the key to the holidays. Make sure you and your family celebrate this month to the fullest. Happy holidays!
Olivia Doherty, a seventh-grader at Scotts Valley Middle School, writes about issues facing middle school students today. Olivia can be reached through the Press-Banner by emailing [email protected].