Can you pretend to be thankful?

Well i usually don't have a hard time faking a "thanks". It's much harder for me to say that i don't like it, because i really appreciate the attention that is being given to me at that given moment. My parents try to surprise me with gifts (clothes mostly) and usually most of them really clash with my style, so to be honest i have mastered the technique of faking a "thanks", but that doesn't mean that I'm not thankful for the thought.

If I get a gift and at first I don't like it, I try to see that value in it such as the thought, the person doing the giving, etc. There have been times when I really could not think of any reason to like the gift but I think I faked it good enough to get by. That's one reason I don't like getting gifts. Most people have no idea what I like or what is suitable for me (or let's face it...they don't really care) so I'd rather not go through the formalities.

I don't think you will have any more trouble saying Thank You if you realize what you are thanking the person for. If you consider that you are thanking them for the time, effort and consideration of the gifter rather than the actual gift then it should be easy to be thankful. After all even if the gift you receive is totally not right, the person giving it thought of you, and took the steps necessary to get it to you. I had a stepmother who hated me and never gave me anything that wasn't junk. I use to get very upset until I realized that no matter what the gift, she had to spend time and thought to get it to me, this must have been a real chore for her. So I thanked her for her effort and dropped it in the next box to give to the church, who knows where it ended up. This poor old lady spent a good part of her energy thinking up ways to get to me and once I learned to appreciate the energy given I could thank her every time. After all a gift of energy is just energy, it's your point of view that makes it good or bad.

I try to be thankful for any gift i get. People give gifts to you because they care about you. I think it is offensive and insulting to the giver and the receiver not to show your gratitiude. so what if you dont really like the gift. It is the thought that counts.

If I get something in gift then I will thank the person from my heart and I don't have to pretend. I don't find myself anytime pretending to say thanks. I say it when I feel to say it. I don't say it if I think that I am not thankful to the person. It is simple if you feel then say otherwise don't. I don't like the person who try to fake their behavior and they loose my respect soon. I think the person will know it if you pretend it. It is very easy to catch if a person is pretending, their eyes will not met yours, they will flick here and there. I don't know if you are a good actor but somehow I can catch it. Thank you and have a nice day/night ahead.

Yeah almost all of the people can pretend to be thankful:) Its easy for those who can easily manipulate their feelings:) I can pretend to be thankful even though im not:) Pretending to be thankful is sometimes good because you will not hurt the feelings of others because they just give you something you really dont want:) Also practicing to be thankful even if youre not is good because it can make you a satisfied and contented person with what you have:)

Well, I am someone who appreciates other people for their effort in doing things and because of that, I'm thankful to them, no matter how good or bad. Reason is, they've put in their effort into the things that they have done. Same applies for getting things that I don't really like. Well, that particular has sacrificed his/her time into choosing what he thought I would like and so be it. It's ok. At most, I'll keep it in my display wardrobe?

Maezee- I watched my mom for years make snickers when given a gift she thought she not have. Her entire family is like saying things like, "You know they shouldn't have given you such a cheap gift". I guess growing up like that made me appreciate my gifts more because you never know what someone went through to give you a gift. I mean, think about if that person spent their last hard earned dime to buy you a gift and you scoffed at it? Right. I agree with you, we should never ever show such disrespect. Namaste-Anora

I think that it is easy for me to be gracious for a gift, no matter what it is when I don't have to be in the same room as a person when I've opened the gift. However, if I am in the same room as a person, although I can sound like I am genuinely gracious with my voice, I don't have a good poker face so that tends to give it all away. I've gotten some pretty bad gifts in my life and I think that I might have hurt feelings because of it in the past.

In those occasions I don't like to lie, so I say thank you and appreciate the intention, but I don't pretend in any moment that I like it. I think that people abuse white lies a lot, making it difficult to trust anyone, as you never know if people are giving you their sincere opinion or they're just lying to please you. I know that people get mad when you say you don't like something, but they have to learn to accept the truth.

I cannot pretend to be thankful but I can certainly be thankful that at perhaps a hard financial time of the year I was thought of. So I always thank the person, without all the ohs and awhs, but certainly can give the gift to someone who can use it. Maybe just me but receiving is something that I take to heart and appreciate. Thanks and happy holiday to you.

If i were in your shoe, i think i can still be thankful and probably treasure the gift. I may not like it now, but who knows, i may like it on the other day, or the next next day, or the next next to the next day. ^_^ I love treasuring things that given to me by my loved ones. even if, let's say i don't reaaly like the stuff.. haha.. ^_^