The Direction of the Gift

A little girl was losing her motivation for the hugely arduous task of working on her speech. Of course I always try to make it fun with games and rewards, and by keeping the focus on her news, her interests, her specialness, her self esteem. Etcetera etcetera etcetera. Suddenly a few weeks ago, she started drawing a chart. She was making a daily schedule sheet for me, so I could see in colour all of my therapy sessions. What generous, focused, eager work she was doing, asking questions as clearly as she possibly could, repeating and rephrasing, working on her sounds with conviction so she get this gift right and useful for me. At the next session I told her I was packing for a trip to the Kibbutz, and needed to decide what to wear for swimming at the Sachneh, for supper, for the special Shavuot ceremony, for the drive. Well, she worked and she gave and she helped me decide on the yellow bathing suit with the turquoise and yellow coverup and flipflops, all the while practicing her speech sounds with vigour. And of course, this week, she helped me plan a trip to Israel for a niece of mine, complete with a two night stay at Herod's, the most expensive hotel in Eilat. I found out what I've often found out, that high motivation comes from the drive to be helpful and giving. That, as Rabbi Greiniman once said, the direction of the gift is not always the direction that the object passes. That the giver receives something priceless.