What strings do you you have to your bow?

This is one of those metaphorical expressions that people frequently use without actually conjuring up the original image.Let’s conjure it up! In this case it’s the fine tight strings that together form the bundle that is drawn across the thicker strings on a stringed instrument to create expressive sound.

One’s not enough, just as in life one talent, one field of knowledge, one skill set or one life experience isn’t sufficient for a balanced or developed life/career/business.

In the bow there are many strings working together to create the sound. In life we naturally use our resources. But do we always bring them all together?

I remember a letter included in a book on parenting that was something on the lines of:

‘I could decorate a house on a shoestring, nurse a child through a fever, supervise a children’s party while counselling a fellow mother on whether to divorce, de-flea a cat, dance the Tango with my husband, raise funds for charity, cook dinner for four while checking long division, get the best insurance deal, discuss King Lear with my step daughter, but when it came to going back into the workforce I didn’t have any qualifications……’

Is that familiar in any sense in your life? Do you value all your ’strings’?

You might want to bring to mind all the different resources you have - talents, knowledge, skills, experiences. What a rich store they are. You could write them down as a kind of life inventory and keep adding to the list over a few days. Include those that initially seem insignificant as well as the Masters degree, steady job and bungy jump kinds of obvious strings.

Just increasing your awareness of all your strings can boost your confidence and remind you to use your whole bundle. You might also spot some that you hadn’t been thinking about or using lately that would be very useful in your life. For example, can you transfer creativity from one area of life across to what is facing you now?

What strings do you have to your bow?