The Power of Stopping: The Only Way to Invite Peace Into Your Day

When was the last time you truly stopped?
Not just paused for a breath—but dropped everything, tuned into your body, and asked: How am I really feeling right now?

In this episode, you’ll explore why stopping feels so hard, what resistance looks like in the moment, and how your mind fights to keep you in old patterns. Drawing wisdom from Walden by Thoreau, Donny reminds us that what we truly need is far less than we think—and joy lives on the other side of simplicity.

This is your invitation to remember what matters, and to begin designing a life rooted in presence, clarity, and peace.

Ask yourself:

•  How do I really feel when I wake up each day?
•  What small act could bring me joy today?
•  And what would change if I just allowed myself to stop?

To subscribe, comment or ask a question, visit www.donnyraus.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Most people spend their entire lives dressed without ever giving a single thought as to what it is they really want and what's important. I used to live the way the comfort job and I hate it. But I probably just also as a result I have my own coffee company. I'm just complaining. YouTube, but it starts with the host coming around. One line. What's going on, guys? Donnie Rouse here, and today I want to talk to you about stepping out of the noise. But first, let me start with a question. How many times in a day do you actually stop? Meaning you put everything down just to kind of connect and feel the moment. I'm willing to bet that there are actually very few of these moments in your day. And the reason why I say that or I I assume that because I am very much very much that way. And there's a problem when you don't take that time to connect with yourself, to connect with the moment, to connect with greater things in life. You start to make the small things big and the big things small. I don't think I have to tell you how that affects your life at when you do that long enough. All of a sudden you start putting all of your mental power towards the things that aren't going to matter one day, one week, one month, one year from now. So, how do you reconnect? Like, how do you bring yourself back to the most important, the essence of what's important for your life? I tell you one thing that it's not going to be something that is going to be easy in doing it. It's easy in theory, but in application, it's actually very challenging because the entire time while you're doing it, your mind is going to be kicking and screaming because you've been, you know, you've been stressing yourself out for so long that it wants to continue going down that path because that is what it knows. But I promise you, if you heed the advice I'm about to give you and take something away from the story I'm about to share, and just literally apply a little piece of it towards your day going forward that is going to make a dramatic difference in your life. So, first let's let's bring some awareness to your life. Like, how are you approaching your day? Like, how do you feel on a regular basis? You wake up in the morning, what do you feel? Right? Do you feel like holy shit, I'm just thrown right into it. There's no time to breathe, and I'm feeling lightheaded. Or are you on the opposite side of the spectrum and you're like, you know what? I wake up, I feel super calm. I have my coffee in the morning, I am connected to everything that is. I'm one with the world, with my environment. I know exactly why I'm here, what I want to accomplish, what makes me feel good. Maybe you're one of the very few that are on that side, because very few people live there, at least all the time. But the more we can start moving that ball and pushing it towards the other side, the more we could live into really who we are, what we were here to do, and just bring more joy to joy to our life. So the first thing is bring some awareness to it. What are you feeling on a day-to-day basis? Secondly, what do you want to feel like? Like, how do you want to experience your day? It's so easy to think that the events of your day are controlling you when it's actually very much the opposite. You are in control of the events of your day at the very least, how you show up. And so when you put the stakes in the ground at the very, very beginning and you know why you're going, you put intention into your day. Now all of a sudden it's easier to kind of mold it into what it is that you want. And then thirdly, once you put that intention, the only other thing to do is to make it happen. And I'll tell you this, just by putting the intention there, what's gonna happen is that you're gonna see the opportunities show up in your day, but it's up to you to take those. So yesterday, I I one of the things I loved, when I was living in Miami Beach, one of the things that brought me so much joy was that I would take the in the evening. Well, morning too. I would morning, I would go down to the beach, I would take my my breakfast down to the beach, I would sit there, eat my breakfast, my uh my instant, uh, not instant notes, my overnight notes, as the sun was coming up. And then I would just look in awe because you know it's coming up, every the everything's starting to get more active. And it would, but it was like a slow start to the to the my day. Then I would go in, I would, you know, like I would do some work, and it literally changed my entire day. When I did that, like my day started off and it was amazing. I didn't like being secluded. Well, I when I was in Miami, I would always work in my my uh from my apartment. And so I that part I didn't like as much. But when I started off in this with this habit, I I actually was very productive. And then I would go out mid-afternoon and I would go skateboard, and then I'd come back, I'd do a little bit more work. And then at the end of the day, what I would do is I would go out to the opposite side of the island, and then I would um I would bring tea, and most of the time I would bring my dinner, and I would sit there as the sun was setting, and I would eat my dinner, drink my tea, watch as the sun was setting, and all the lights of downtown Miami come on. It brought me so much joy, so much peach, and really, really just connected to me to my day. I would go back to my apartment all of a sudden, everything was quiet. Right? I mean, and it's not like my neighbors were making noise or that there was music playing across the hall. It was my mind was quiet. Like my mind was actually put to rest. And this is probably one of the biggest issues that we face right now is that there's so much shitty noise, there's so much noise in this world, so many people trying to make demands on your time that it just speeds you up and has you going in this vicious circle that you don't know how to stop. But stopping is actually the easy part. It's just stepping outside of the noise for a moment to give your mind enough time to just calm down. So I'm back here in Connecticut, and I did that when I came back from Miami. I did that for probably like a few days. And then I was right back into the way, like my my normal groove. Then it was like, oh my god, there's no time to do this, no time to do that. And I would go around. I would reserve times uh in the morning to have my coffee, to journal. But then there was a lot of times where I was just in quiet desperation. I was just trying to give myself a little bit of like a cushion before like the day would come in and take me on that roller coaster. Because there's all these different projects that I want to be a part of, create, and it just felt like overwhelming. And I was doing it to myself, to be honest with you. I was doing it to myself. The thought of going out and you know, taking a walk in the afternoon during lunch, taking a break from my from doing work at the computer and and going out. Like, I'm like, oh no, there's no time to do that. I don't have time to do that. Ah, and I would I would get all flustered, and then as roll, I would stay at my desk. And how do you think that made me feel as a result of not moving? Right? I'm staying at the desk, telling myself I don't have the time, and then I would you know keep going. It actually was less productive than that, just gone out and taking the damn walk. Right? Taking the walk, moving your body, seeing new things, it were revitalizes you. And I would tell myself that I couldn't do it. And then going back to the beach, like and and going there and doing that evening routine, I would go towards the gym, like, you know what? I'm gonna go to the beach today. Then all of a sudden I would get there. I'm like, oh no, I can't, uh there's no time to go to the beach. I have to get this, this, and this done so I could do this tomorrow. And then I would just keep pulling myself, telling, giving myself all the reasons why I couldn't do the very thing that I wanted, and the very thing that would add so much pleasure to my life. I picked up that habit again yesterday. And yesterday I was, you know, you know what? I am gonna go to the beach. I'm gonna make it a point to go to the beach and I'm gonna have my dinner. I'm gonna sling my hammock, I'm gonna have my dinner, I'm gonna watch the sun go down and I'm gonna read. It was amazing. So I but I as I it wasn't just easy. I didn't I want to share the resistance that I felt in doing that. So this way when it shows up in your own life, you realize that the resistance is the just to keep going. So I was on my way to the beach, I mean, on my way to the gym, and the um it was about I think like maybe six o'clock. It was past six because I had to do a drop-off, uh, I had to do like some shipments, and I was like, man, now I'm not gonna be able to get the gym. I was supposed to do weights. And I'm like, well, you know, weights are gonna take me at least a half an hour and a half. By the time I get out of the gym, the sun's all gonna be is already gonna be setting, and I'm gonna lose all of that time. As I was going in the gym, I was like, what is it? What is it that I really want right now? I was like, right, I I promised myself, I made a promise myself at the beginning of the day when I set my intentions that I was gonna go to that beach and that I was gonna read, I was gonna relax because I know I was really, really put the intention uh into my day, but also got acquainted with the feeling I was gonna feel as a result of going to that beach and experiencing that. So that was already in my mind. So I at the gym, I'm looking, I'm like, well, what should I do? I could do my my weight routine, I'll have to cut it short, which is fine. I could, I can get a good workout in half an hour, 40 minutes. I could do that. But then I was like, you know, let me instead, let me just do some cardio. So I jumped on the rower and I kicked my butt. I mean, I this was not the intention of coming out here, but it was it was rough. I realized a little technique in the rowing, how you lead with the hips, meaning when you're pulling the rowing back, the hips lead. And then at the end, you lean back and you pull. I I couldn't even move afterward, but nevertheless, it was a 20-minute workout. I stretched for a little bit, showered, and then I went down to the gym. I mean, down to the beach. And, you know, as I'm going there, I'm kind of like rushing. I have this fast-paced walk as I'm making my way around Cove Island Park looking for these this little secluded uh trifecta of trees that I sling my hammock in. And I I go to this spot one because um, you know, there's the trees are at the like the right distance part, but secondly, because there's nobody in that area. So I I get that little bit of seclusion, although there's this tree like right in the center of my my uh uh my vision, like my uh my uh my sight. So it's like I'm looking right at the center of retreat, but it's not bad because I could go in the hammock, I could kick back and forth with my legs, and it gives me a little rocky motion. I like it. Um so while I'm there, I was kind of rushing like to get there. And then while I was at the beach and I noticed that everything all of a sudden started to slow down, I started seeing people walking, enjoying their day. I'm looking at the um, you know, the sun setting in one direction and looking at the water in the opposite direction, and everything started to almost come become like 4D. Like the colors were more vibrant, everything was just I could feel it. And it was because I was taking that moment to just to stop and to feel the moment. As I was sitting there, I was reading, I was reading, reading Walden by uh um David, um, I'm sorry, Henry uh Thoreau. I'm I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing the name. How do I forget that? It's like such a good book, and I've been wanting to read it for a long time. Thoreau is his last name, that's all we need to know. And um in this book talks about simplicity. It talks of he goes out to nature, he goes out to uh Walden Pond and spends, I think, two years there, builds his house, and what he under realizes in this is that once his needs were met, like the food, shelter, and um and clothing, that he didn't really need anything. It was about the warm, like just having the warmth of the body, like the food that he was eating gave the body warmth. And once you had that warmth in the body, then everything else was just kind of like icing on the cake. And one of the things that really stuck to me, and the reason why I mentioned this is just because it goes into the simplicity and how it's so easy to get caught up with comparison when you were back home. He goes and he's talking about travel. One of the reasons why I started reading the book was because of this whole uh philosophy that he had in this book about travel, simplicity, and living uh living a certain way. And he was talking about travel and how he, I guess he'd met uh if he was given the story about a woman who, when traveling, they would, you know, live very simply, like the the clothing was um, you know, very simple clothing. But when they came back to the United States, the clothing was very fashionable, very high-end. And he was going into saying about the um just about the simplicity, how you have to people spend all this money on things that they don't really need just because they have to keep up with a persona. His idea behind buying a new wardrobe, for example, was that you don't buy new wardrobe for the sake of buying a new wardrobe or for an event, you buy new clothing when you grow out of the person that you are, which I thought was mind-blowing. Like, how many times of do you hold on to things that no longer serve you, that you've grown past, but you hold on to this old identity, and as a result, it kind of keeps you a little bit like in the past. So I thought that was like just a a thrilling concept that he had presented there. But the whole concept, uh what I really mentioned that wanted to mention that was for was for the simplicity. He went out there to really understand what was it that he really needed in life. And it turns out to be very, very little once he, you know, he talked about the great sages, uh the saints, and how they went out and realized that when they were living in poverty, that they, once their those needs were net, they had everything they need. And I'm not saying this for you to like go live in poverty or to give up everything, but rather just to give you a little shake to help you understand well, what is it that's really important in my life? Like, where am I driving the ship? And where is somebody else driving the ship in a direction that I don't even want to go? Because that is ultimately what is going to leave you feeling like you're always thirsty, feeling like you're always missing something when it is just someone else trying to feed you something that you don't even want in the first place. So I gave you a lot uh a lot of things there. Let's bring it back to the center. Like, what like my my start to my day today was this. I set my intention for the day. Like, what is it that I want to feel? And then I went through all these things, but then uh I was thinking about like the greater, like my life as a whole and how I want to live passionately, how I want to uh have an impact on the world. And then I started journaling. Well, what exactly does that look like? And then I was going, you know, journaling, I'm like, uh, you know, coffee, obviously, um, freedom of travel. And then I threw a cafe in there, right? I'm like, oh, you know, having a coffee shop because I love the coffee, the coffee, uh making the coffee, and I love the social aspect of it, right? But I for my life right now, it doesn't fit because I still want to do a lot of traveling. I don't know if that's ever gonna change. I'm always gonna want to travel. But at least right now, it's I made a conscious decision not to pursue the cafe. And then as I was going through the impact I want to make, like, what is the impact I want to have on the world while I'm here and while when I'm no longer here. And that answer that came to me was to help people feel the moment, to connect people to the moment and what is important in that moment, because it's so easy to lose sight of what's important, to let all the noise around you drowned out what your heart is calling you to do. One of the things that I feel I'm here to is to connect you to that desire, to your day, to the things that really matter. I do that through this podcast here, and hopefully I I do it through the coffee by making coffee that's so delicious that it gets you to stop and savor that moment. So going back to the beginning, like how do you wake up every day? Like when you when you wake up in the morning, what are the emotions, right? And I don't want to trigger you, but uh if you are triggered by this this question, I want you to understand and ask yourself why. And then next, what is it that you want to do? Like, what could add some joy to your day? Some some bring you some peace, help you to just stop and appreciate everything that there is. This may require you to step outside of the of the box that you are in. And I say that with all risk due respect, like me, because we're we all live in some kind of box, right? There's this balance of familiarity with variety, and when you're too much in one of those, your life kind of just kind of feels off. But out of the box, meaning like out of the day-to-day routine, like when I'm here in my room and I'm doing work, oh my god. But sometimes I'm very effective at doing work here because I want quiet. But the other side, like once I step outside and I go outdoors, I'm like, oh my god, what what is this? I feel like I'm in, it's almost like I I feel like reborn because I just stepped out of that room. I try to do that the first thing in the morning is get outside, go for a walk. So this way I have that that I get that feeling right in the beginning of my day. And then lastly, is just to go do the damn thing you said you want to do. It doesn't have to be for an hour, two hours. It could literally be for 15 minutes, half an hour. I promise you that if you do that, even if it's a freaking cup of coffee on your porch watching the squirrels gather nuts and whatever, take that moment. It's gonna add so much value to your day. It's gonna bring you so much clarity, it's gonna realign you with the things that are really important and really matter in your life. And this is important because there's everything around you that is trying to work against you, it's trying to pull you in a direction that uh of their needs, their desires, not what is right for you. So I encourage you to do that because your happiness, your joy, your fulfillment is all at stake. So commit to something, to doing something that will connect you to that moment, whether it be a cup of coffee, whether it be a walk after dinner, whether it be maybe just catching up with a friend. It doesn't even have you don't have to do it alone. Get a friend and say, hey, you know what? We haven't seen each other in a while. Let's go for a walk. Really? Why do you want to go for a walk? It's kind of weird. You never ask me to go for a walk because I want to just connect with the moment and I want to connect with you. Do something, anything to knock you out of that day-to-day hundred routine where you are just in hypnosis. Do that, and I promise you, you will see the benefit and it will impact your day as well as your life going forward, so long as you continue it. So that's what I have for you guys today. Hope you enjoyed this message. I hope it changes how you look at your day as well as the intention you put into it and how you feel. And you know, if we're if all goes a hell, just at least you can enjoy a cup of rouse coffee. So that is all I've got for you today. I hope you enjoyed this episode here. If you did, please share it with someone whom you feel could benefit from it. And again, please, please, please, if you wouldn't mind leaving a review for this podcast, it would be a tremendous help and I would greatly appreciate it. So I'm here to connect you to your day, the things that are important. And while I I will still continue to do it, it feels good to be able to expand that reach and get more people to hear the words that I'm sharing. So I hope this in this helped you. If you have any questions or comments, you can send them to me via my website at donnierouse.com, D-O-N-N-Y-R-A-U-S.com. That is all I've got for you guys today. Hope you enjoyed this episode. Remember, you only get one life live fully, live passionately, and most of all, live now. God bless you guys, and I will see you again soon.