When it's that time to think of others and buy a gift, we ironically often make the mistake of thinking about ourselves! Don't believe us? Just think about the last time that you bought a special occasion gift for a family member, friend, neighbor, or co-worker. Did you worry what kind of impression the gift would give about you? Were you concerned whether the gift looked expensive enough and gave the impression that you spent a lot of money?

How about the last time you received a gift? What was that person thinking?!

Call it "consumer nature" if you will, but these are the things that some of us are thinking about as we select a special occasion gift for someone else. The problem with this approach is that people are quite verbal about the gifts they receive, and one of the things they're most verbal about is their usefulness. You may never hear such verbiage, for these statements are made to private friends and family! But believe us when we say there's a reason why gifts are returned to the store from whence they came, stored in the attic, or used as a conversational piece (i.e. poked fun of). And that reason is that they're simply not applicable.

The perfect special occasion gift is not concerned with impression: cost or otherwise. Instead, the perfect special occasion gift considers its recipient and fulfills a personal need. It fits into the recipient's schedule. It assists its recipient with daily tasks or a favorite hobby. It accommodates its recipient's current lifestyle and tastes. And it's certainly something that the recipient would pick out for himself (or herself).

Above all, the perfect special occasion gift says, "I pay attention to the things you talk about. I listen. And I care."