What are your strengths?
This is an ongoing activity that will provide you with incredible insights, strength, and leave you with a good feeling inside your soul as you move through each stage of the activity.
Stage One: A Limb of Life
Go for a walk, visit a forest, or even walk around your neighborhood. As you are walking start searching the ground for a limb from a tree or bush that still has the leaves or foliage on it. It should be one of those limbs that catches your attention. It should be unique with twists and turns.
Now that you have your limb of life, you will need to find a unique vase. It can be clear glass with crystals in the bottom, an old bottle, or even a colorful vase you’ve had for years. Place your limb of life in the vase.
Stage Two: Transition
Your limb of life will eventually start to loose the leaves. First, one leaf will fall, then another, then the table top will be filled with leaves. Don’t throw them away! This process shows you the transition within your life that is going to take place within this activity. Your negative thoughts, ideas, feelings, and anxiety are dropping off your tree of life as each leaf falls from the limbs.
Stage Three: Creating Your Tree of Strength
Gather the leaves that dropped off the tree. Be creative and find a way to create new leaves. Some people use colored tissue paper, trace the old leaf, cut it out, and write one of their strengths on the colorful tissue leaf. Then, they glue the leaf back onto the limbs. Others create new leaves out of clay, engrave their strength onto the clay leaf, and glue it to a limb. While others dry the old leaves, paint them, and use colored markers or glitter to write their strength onto the old leaf. Be creative! Your goal is to fill every limb with new leaves representing your tree of strength. This will be a powerful, colorful tree filled with all of your strengths.
Stage Four: Find Your Strength for Today
On those difficult days, visit your tree of strength. Find the one strength you need for that day. Yes, you can take the leaf off, put it on your desk, or even take it with you for that day. Take a picture of that leaf with your phone. Anytime, you need that strength, take it out, think of when that strength once filled you with energy, and visualize that strength within you today. Finally, at the end of your day, put your leaf back onto your tree of strength for another day.
Other Ideas for Your Tree of Strength
I have seen some trees of strength where the leaves were changed for each season of the year. While other creative people went out to find new leaves of all shapes, sizes, and colors to redecorate their tree of strength. It is your tree – have fun building your strengths into your own tree or forest.