Day 357 of #LiveWell2017

I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m going to say it again – besides giving someone your undivided attention, one of the greatest gifts you can give someone is an experience. Most of us have enough stuff. We don’t need more things to clutter our lives, our homes, our worries. Many years ago, my mother got so fed up with trying to figure out what stuff to get all of the kids and grandkids for Christmas, that she finally declared “NO MORE PRESENTS”.

It was such a relief for me and for most of the family. We stopped shopping, stopped consuming stuff we didn’t really need or want and started giving experiences. We went skiing together, we played charades, we put together slide shows of family pictures and showed them on Christmas Eve. We enjoyed our time together. My brother is a master at giving experiences – he takes his family and friends to concerts and ball games all the time.

When my birthday rolls around each year, I always ask for an experience, like hiking with my friends (as seen in the picture above). It means so much more than getting a thing wrapped in paper.

There are so many ways to give experiences – from buying plane tickets to some exotic location to putting together a picnic and going for a hike to the top of the hill to enjoy it. Here’s a list of some ways to give experiences instead of stuff. What would you add to it?

• Museum tickets (art, natural history, science) or membership
• Tickets to a play or to a theater season
• Concert tickets
• A trip to the local nature center
• Camping weekend
• Go hiking, walking, or jogging together
• Give a gym membership
• Go bowling or ice skating or roller skating
• Make up a treasure hunt (I did this for my son and his friends, even when he was 21 years old!)
• Give an art or craft class or music lessons
• Build a garden together
• Movie night! and popcorn
• Go canoeing or kayaking
• Watch the sunset together in a special place

We will rarely remember our toys, but we will always remember those special experiences done with the ones we love.