Despite the headline, this post has nothing to do with your office’s white elephant gift exchange or tactics to pick the right bow tie or mug for your secret water cooler Santa. Instead, I wanted to talk about the gifts each of us possess.

Sometimes, it’s really easy to be annoyed about the gifts we lack. Not just our own intrinsic box of talents, but those in our sphere of influence whether it’s colleagues, superiors or those reporting to us. You know, we sit around and say, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone who knew this or could do that?”

All very nice, useful things. But what about the people in your world who give us parts of themselves everyday, but we don’t notice? I like to say that the best gifts are things you’d “never buy for yourself, but are things you appreciate.” We come equipped with different talents. I’m intentionally being vague, because it’s the kind of thinking that needs to come from within. The people around us, if they’re useful at all, can be useful in immeasurable ways.

When we’re thinking about gifts — the ones we get, the ones we don’t get it — I’ve come to find that rather than lamenting what I didn’t get, that it’s far better to appreciate what we have and what we’ve received. And to be thankful.