Howie Day is coming in concert in August. Someone should seriously buy me tickets for my birthday (only 11 more shopping days)!

Ok, I'm kidding (sort of). I've never been very comfortable having people spend a lot of money on me. Close friends and family is ok usually. Unless I know they really don't have the money to spend on an expensive gift and then I just feel bad and the gift is ruined.

Dating used to be hard for me for that very reason. I hated having people spend a lot of money on me. Especially if it was a first date or someone I knew I would never have a serious relationship with. I would so much rather pay for myself than have someone pay for me. Then I didn't feel like I owed them something or make them begrudge me in any way. I used to worry myself sick about first dates. The anticipation of the date was always worse than the date. Once I was there and in the situation I was able to get a grip and (usually) have a good time.

The last few years I've become a lot more gracious about accepting gifts, food, anything that others have to offer. I've always subscribed to the thinking "it's better to give than to receive" and I realized a lot of other people feel that way too. The best thing in the world is giving someone something they really want and seeing how happy they are to receive it. Something of that is lost when the person tries to refuse your gift or isn't very gracious about receiving it. So why should I rob others of the joy that comes with giving?