Using All Your Strength

Read:

A young boy was walking with his father along a country road when they came
across a large tree branch.
The boy asked, “Do you think I could move that branch?”
“If you use all your strength, I’m sure you can,” his father answered.
The boy tried mightily to lift, pull, and push the branch, but he couldn’t budge it.
Discouraged, he said, “Dad, you were wrong. I can’t do it.”
His dad said, “Try again.”
This time, as the boy struggled with the branch, his father joined him. Together
they pushed the branch aside.
“The first time you didn’t use all your strength,” his father said. “You didn’t ask
me to help.”
It’s important to use all our strength. This includes inner resources such as
discipline, courage, and love. It also includes outer resources. Just as we
should be willing to help others, we should be willing to ask the help of others.
It’s one of the great things about being human.
Plans
1. Read Using All Your Strength to the class. Discuss what it means to use all your strength. Do they consider asking another for help, to be a strength or a weakness?

2. Each student needs a blank sheet of paper. Have them divide the sheet into three columns. In the first column, ask them to list their short- and long-term goals. (You can specify areas such as hobbies, career, academics, athletics, etc.) In the second column, tell them to list their strengths. Have them match their strengths to their goals. Do any goals have no strengths attached? If so, remind them that they’re more likely to achieve their goals with the help of others. In the third column, have them list people who can help them reach their goals and improve their strengths.

3. Have the students discuss their goals, strengths, and people who can help them achieve their goals.