Free gifts

Say your neighbor has a beautiful display of flowers right outside their house. Or perhaps a local park has a gorgeously well-pruned tree. That’s a free gift.

It doesn’t cost you anything to enjoy it. And just because someone else’ bought it or owns it, doesn’t mean you can’t delight in it as well.

Or consider the smell of freshly roasted coffee at your local roastery (if you have one). That’s a free gift as well. Same goes for the free samples they might provide at a home-town grocer or hotel.

Or, finally, reflect on the infinite sampling of goods you can try on or savor at your shopping mall of choice. It doesn’t cost you anything to try on a jacket you know you’d look good in, or run your fingers through a coat made of fleece.

You won’t find ‘free gifts’ in your local store-bought catalog, or even under the’ services provided’ by your HOA. That doesn’t mean they don’t exist—it just means they aren’t bankable.

Alas. We’ all do better to learn to discover and appreciate those gifts that are inherently good for the psyche. And, also, those that are economically free.