“I am protective, I am paternal, I give love!”
I formulated this statement many moons ago during one of my compassionate inquiry coaching sessions with Denise Sohandev and she recommended that I add it as a daily reminder that pops up on my phone and computer. In fact I think she took my phone and did it herself there and then.
(I’m sure many of you reading this will have done the same with Denise)
Every time the statement pops up, I’m in the middle of something and I close it as fast as I can. 18 months of interrupting pop-ups later and the thought is:
I’m going to remove this annoying reminder once and for all.
And then.
The other day I was reflecting on the year – my highs and my lows. And I realised that while there is a lot that I can improve on, I’ve approached most of my biggest challenges from a place of protectiveness, a place of paternal thoughtfulness, and a place of love.
Instead of acting impulsively on anything, I’ve mostly waited. I’ve pondered. I’ve reflected. I’ve opened books to try and find some wisdom. I’ve reached out to good listeners. I’ve meditated. I’ve tried my utmost to come back to love.
And so, on reflection, I’m not going to delete the reminder. Rather, I’m going to thank my lucky stars that I had that session with Denise and that, somehow, my deepest self knew what I would need to be reminded of every day for 2024. (And somehow Denise knew to add it to my phone immediately – I think she knows I can procrastinate… just saying!)
If you have a moment – as we come to the end of this year – ask yourself what reminder your deepest self may want to share with you each day of 2025 and add it to your phone NOW. Even better – reach out to Denise and formulate the statement with her.
It never ceases to amaze me how our intention so powerfully steers our reality.
With love,
Ryan
PS – Denise helped me formulate both of these reminders. The second one is my reminder that – as well as being gentle – I can also be ambitious (yes, for some reason my younger self had these two at odds with each other).
