3 Lessons From Laos and Sri Lanka and Why They Matter to Your Life

I just returned from a month in Asia, spending the bulk of my time in Laos and Sri Lanka. With that comes new awarenesses and lessons on how to live. Today I want to share 3 of those with you, because they what I am about to share can only be seen when you step out of your day-to-day environment. 

This is the perfect episode to transition into 2026, because it is my intention, through the stories I am about to share, that you will reflect on your life, how you've showed up, and what you want for your future going forward.

The juicy stuff happens half way through the episode and so I was you just to stick with me so that you get the full impact, because your life is waiting and depends on it.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season!

God bless,

Donny

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Most people spend their entire lives stressed without ever giving a single thought as to what it is they really want and what's important. See how we heard a couple of that noise connecting you to yourself and the life that you were meant to live. I used to live away the copper job and I hate it. But I broke through the software too much. As a result, I have my own coffee company. I'm just complaining. And I get this crap in the world. You too can live a life that you live. But it starts with completely. It starts within this. I'm your host, Donnie Rouse. You are listening to the podcast. One life. So I just got back from a trip to Asia and I wanted to share three of the key awarenesses and lessons that I learned while I was there because I feel like they would have a huge impact on your life if you just become aware of what the forces were, but also what you were being called for and what you really want inside. Because isn't it true that when you are in the rough of it, when you're in all that noise, that it's very difficult sometimes to hear your own voice? So the three things are awarenesses and lessons kind of combined that I want to share with you are one, just the noise that you are surrounded by every single day. Secondly, is just the power of the culture scape. Like wherever you are, your environment is shaping you, either for good, either for bad. But you are being shaped by your environment. So when you become aware, then you could decide how you want to change. Maybe it's a new environment. Thirdly, attachments. What are you attached to that's holding you back from taking that next step in your life? So we'll go over all these lessons and I'll tell you how I came, how these awarenesses came about in my trip. So I just came back. I was in Asia for a month. The first trip, well, actually, the I big thing before I even start there, I should kind of tell you what the mindset is before there. So before I leave for my trip in November, usually I am in a place where I just need to get the heck out of here because work has been picking up, thankfully. And as a result of that, like I usually get near that burnout mode in August, right? And like the uh the personal growth should be like, all right, well, knowing that you get that way in August, what can you do differently? Right? That that comes with awareness. So August is where I start feeling that itch, like, all right, I need to really, really take a break. November comes around, and that is actually when I start to take the break. So the moment I step on that flight, it is just a release. It's like, all right, finally, I get to I get to have some fun, breathe, meet new people. And I uh so when I landed, I landed in Bangkok. Right when I landed, it was just a world of difference. I ended up getting dinner with a friend, and then the following morning venturing out and finding a a uh local market and having the most amazing basil, uh pork basil that cost me like a dollar thirty. It was something ridiculous. Uh, but anyways, I had met and then I just started meeting people all of a sudden. I probably met easily over 100 people, if not maybe like a few hundred people this past trip. So Thailand was kind of the start to it. I had an amazing time, and then I went over to Laos. And so it takes me a little bit of time to kind of find my groove. When I was in Laos, I was still felt very tourist because if you're gonna go to Laos, you're not going to like the you're not going to the outskirts of Laos, right? At least I didn't on this trip. I didn't go south of um the capital, Vientien. But while I was in Laos, I went to Luamprobang, which is a UNESCO heritage site. So you know they're getting a lot of tourists there, and that the entire the the place is built up for tourism, right? I I knew that, right? I'm in Luamprebang, was having coffee, everyone was making coffee the same way that they do it here. They're making espresso, and I was like, I don't want espresso, I want Laoxian coffee. Give me Laotian coffee. Long story short, it would take me, I would have to go to Vong Bien, and then later from Vong Bien to Ventian. And my last day in Ventian, I would find uh the one place that would make Laotian coffee. And then I was on to Malaysia and then to Sri Lanka. But this isn't about coffee. So I I had Malaysia, I ended up spending uh two nights there. I got there late in the day. Next day I had a full day and meeting a uh Roy and another girl, her name is Jessica. Jessica or Sarah, I think Jessica, from Germany, and we ended up having a blast eating our way through Malaysia as well as tasting and becoming connoisseurs of durian fruit, the the stinkiest fruit of all. Uh, and then I was on my way to Sri Lanka. Okay, this is where it all really, really starts. Although it did start in Laos as well, but this is where it really starts. So the first thing I noticed when I was there, well, actually, when I was in Laos, my uh my first experience of Laos was in Colombo. And um, wanting to kind of hit the ground running because I didn't know how much time I was gonna spend there, I met a girl from uh Switzerland and Spain, and they were going out, they were gonna go to this this market, this Indian market. I was like, sure, sign me up, I'll go with you. Oh my God. And we we go to this market, and it was the most overwhelming thing I've ever experienced because you're on the street, and all of a sudden, I mean you couldn't turn without losing an arm. There's like scooters, people, like uh construction materials like going by you. The streets were packed, and this is what I imagine India is gonna be like when I go there. And I was just so overstimulated that I was like, you know what, I'm leaving Colombo tomorrow. Thankfully I didn't. And so uh after that experience, I went back and I was like, all right, let me before I decide to leave Colombo, let me see if I could find this mysterious uh this mysterious Marcella coffee. If you don't know about my love of coffee and why it makes me how it's like the the the basis of my travels, then we'll get in that in a different story. This whole story is for a different time, but as I was there, and like a once in a while I would kind of go online, I would check my Instagram, and uh the moment I would open the app, it was just like ads, you know, people selling, and I realized just one how much noise there is, there is in in my life, and probably more so maybe in other people's lives. And I as now I'm I'm very conscious of how much time I spend on Instagram, how much time I spend watching TV, the news. Be honest with you, I don't even watch TV. People are always amazed, like, well, you don't know who this person is, this actor might they're on this hit show, or you haven't heard what's going on in the world, it's all over the news. I'm like, I don't watch the news. And so I unplug from that, but even so, there is still so much noise going on because there's all these, you know, you you turn on Instagram for that moment, and all of a sudden you're comparing yourself to something, and all of a sudden you're going off on tangents that you don't even know that you're going after. So you the life is just filled with so much noise, and as a result of shutting it out and stepping outside of it, all of a sudden now you become aware of just how much there really is. Which brings me to this second point. And I guess if I had to give you an example of how you know so this way you could imagine and picture it and know what it's like. It's like um Lord of the Rings. You know, when he he takes the ring and he puts it on, all of a sudden he's transported to like this dark place and he hears all this whisper, it's like and then he takes it off, and all of a sudden he's back in like the forest. It's kind of like that. So the when you step out of the noise and when you go back in, all of a sudden you see how loud that noise really is. So I was there and I was just like, Oh my god. Like, you know, I now someone who I consider as pretty disconnected in the sense that I I very much am conscious and limit how much time I spend online, how much time I spend watching anything on TV. And yet it was, I was still blown away just by how much it was present in my life. So I was like, man, like there's so much noise that is just preventing you from hearing what you're calling is doing what you want to do. Bring me in the second point. And I was I was I was watching there, I would like it and like I would I'd flick on to Instagram because I would want to update some of my friends, my family. Uh, and all of a sudden I see all these ads, people like, oh, do you want to live longer? Do you want to have more energy? All this stuff. And I realized just from experiencing and interacting with the people there, people are just living. Like people back home here in the United States, Western culture spend all this time trying to extend life when it's just busyness. You spend all this time trying to extend life only to realize that you're missing out on it. And again, I'm I'm if I'm saying you, I'm it's directly related to me, right? Because I'm seeing the world through my own eyes and how I'm experiencing it.

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Right?

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All the time at the gym, all the time trying to do the let me grow the wheatgrass, let me do this, let me, oh, I gotta take a spoon of olive oil a day, all these things to try to extend and uh enhance life or actually detracting from it because now all of a sudden, like you have a million things to do, so much so that like your day spent doing those things, and you just missed out on living, interacting, maybe working on your your passion and interacting with people that you really care about. And so, like, I I realized I'm like, oh my god, and I I thought one of my friends in particular, who spent spends so much time, God bless her, caring for her family, and it looks like she's running ragged, it looks like she she's about to like literally snap, but she's doing all of these things, and I could tell that the energy around these things that she's doing is anxious energy, and that she's gonna burn out. And I I I tell you this, and I tell myself this because you gotta realize like what is really gonna move the marker, health, right? Going to the gym, okay, that moves a marker, right? Because you want to feel good. The food you put in your body, okay. We have we have direct control over that, right? We want to put good food in our body, but there's a lot of things we add on that aren't adding the value that they should, and therefore they should just be let go of. And I'm um I'm trying to think of well, that was the example that I wanted to share with you. It was my friend in particular, because that was the first image that came to mind. And the last part, uh, the third lesson was um, and I mean this the quick lessons. I'll I'll I'll follow up with this uh with a different podcast, but attachments. So my last literally circling all the way around, and uh I was in um back in Colombo, so this is the end of my trip now, and I was gonna book the hostel that I was uh I initially stated, but I was like, you know what? I'm not going back there. One because something rubbed me the wrong. Oh yeah, there was a guy who I thought was really obnoxious who was working behind the uh in the kitchen there. And um, so I was like, screw them, I'm not going back there. And uh so I decided to book a different hostel, and it's funny how things happen. Everything happens for a reason. So I was like catching a train. I was actually gonna stay in uh the place where I was. I was in um oh my god, trying to rem uh Ahangama, Ahangama Beach. And I was gonna stay there a little bit longer, but I decided to get on the uh to get on, I don't know if I took a I took a bus from uh no, I took a train. I oh my gosh, I'm forgetting my trip. I ended up taking a train back up to Colombo. And uh and I'm so happy that I did because I ended up meeting a group of people back in Colombo on my last day. And it's just funny how things happen. And I met this one girl who was probably one of the most intriguing people that I met the entire trip. Uh, she had been traveling for 13 years. 13 years, and I was like, Well, I mean, I I usually say, Well, wow, that's that's amazing, that's a dream. But like, and then I'm like, well, but would I really want to travel 13 years and not feel planted in one place? I mean, that's that each person's own decision. So I was talking to her and I was like, Well, what is that like? And one of the things she shared with me that I found so profound was she was telling me, she's like, Well, you have to learn how to let go of attachments. What do you mean? She's like, you have to learn how to like you know, like let go of your attachment to things, people, circumstances. And I I I thought about that, and I'm like, well, what is what's the right balance for me? Because like I I've traveled for outside the country for a month, and sometimes I am like, get me the hell out of here. I just want to go back home, have my routine. Like when you're traveling for 13 years, you got to find your routines. But in and you know, but then it's like you're you're losing your whole routine. But maybe that's part of the appeal because by stepping outside, then you start to realize what really matters to you. But I was thinking about the attachments. I started to think about attachments to business, attachments to people, attachments to a idea of how I am supposed to live. And and then so it really, really stuck with me. It was she was the most interesting person that I met on the trip just because of her lifestyle choices. I mean, I could go, there were it went much deeper than this, but I'm only gonna share this aspect of it, partially because the other parts were probably a little bit private. And I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I share them, and maybe I will in a different episode. But then when I came back home, all of a sudden I'm like, oh my God, I'm going back home. And when I was there, all these like new awarenesses about how I wanted to live my life, live my businesses, where I wanted to be. One of the things I I had uh always I always spoke about was living outside of the United States and living outside of my my hometown of Stanford. And that desire really, like as well as many other desires, came back into my consciousness. I mean, that that desire never left my consciousness, but the the that alarm kind of went off, realizing that like, you know, like time is limited. You don't know how much time you have left. And one of the things I liked whenever I was there, and again, this is outside looking in. I mean, inside looking out, I should say, not outside looking in, inside looking out, like from so I'm fill coloring the the world with my own with my own lens. But I would see people when I was in Lao, and uh they might have they were day laborers, they would they might just finish work and then they would just sit on the side of the street under these, like these like huts that were kind of like with like uh some kind of like leaves covering it, right? It could be raining around them, they're just sitting there enjoying time with family, and I realized like how amazing is that like they finish, work's done, and they're then they just relax versus the busyness that is was going on in my own head. And so it just made me think about what was working and what wasn't working in my life, and maybe that's where I'm gonna leave it off now because it's probably the most important question to ask, right? It's easy to look, say, where do I what do I want? Like, what is it that I want to create in the future, right? But that's kind of abstract in a way because you have to base it on where you are right now. So, where are you right now? Let's look at your past year. This is where I'm gonna get all life coaching on you. Look at let's look at your past year. Like, what was the experience of your last year? Like, what things did you were bothering you? What things did you say you wanted to change? What things are no longer working? Now let's look at those things and say, well, how do you want to step forward in the next year? You say we we adopt these philosophies on how to live and how we have to be, but we never stop and check back in to upgrade these philosophies or these maps we have for the different areas of our life. Going back to what I had said about living in Connecticut, right? Like it it's a map. I was like, oh, I being here, my family's here, I have to plant my roots here, right? But if it's not working for me, then what am I doing? So that is just a metaphor for every area of your life. Like your health, like what habits are you doing that are not serving you that you know are not serving, you don't even get the enjoyment from them anymore. And then what do you have to do in the next year to shift that? Like, what will your new philosophy on health be? And it's super important to check in and to learn from the experiences that we're having in life because otherwise we just keep repeating it day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. And the the the alarm that goes off is that there is no time to waste. And I had a a brief conversation with a friend. And it and it's it's an easy way to just write it off. It's true, but at the same time, it's just a sh it's just a safe way of explaining why you're living your life. So we were talking about circumstances in our lives, and she's like, Well, you know what? There is no wrong because eventually you're just gonna figure it out because life is always happening for you. I'm like, Well, yeah, yeah, I agree. Life is always happening for you. But sometimes life is sitting there with a hammer, smacking you in the head, saying, Listen up, listen up. I am giving you a message here, listen up, and it keeps hitting you, and it's gonna hit you harder and harder, screaming louder and louder until you wake up to start to make the changes that you know you want. Right? So, yes, life is always happening for you. But listen to the the cues that you're being given, listen to that alarm call that's going off saying, Hey, life is short. What are you doing? You know, so and and and I respect that, right? Because in many ways, I probably operate from that that philosophy, and I know there's changes I need to make. But realizing the propensity of your mind to put things off and say, oh, well, maybe it's not that bad, you know, it life is gonna figure itself out. What you're really doing is you're avoiding. Again, I'm not I'm not throwing stones at you because this is I'm I'm looking at and I'm explaining this to you through the lens of my own life. So what are you avoiding? Right? And then just imagine, put yourself on the other side of it. Like, what is life gonna be like once you make that change? And it's sometimes it's hard, you won't even know. But I encourage you just to listen to your own heart. And that is that's like the listen to your own heart and just see where it's calling you. Even sometimes even that could be deceiving. Because I've done many things where I'm like, oh, where's my heart calling? I'm feeling pulled in this direction. Then I really, you know, you you're going in a direction. It's really, I don't know if you even know if you're really being pulled in that direction. It's just because it is what's so familiar that you're like, okay, this is right because it feels right. And the only reason why it feels right is because you've been doing it over and over and over and over for the last 10, 20 years. So, what changes do you need to make? Let emotion be your guide. Like positive emotions, go for it. Negative emotions, all right. What do I need to change or what do I need to do differently? One of the uh one of the I so I was thinking about this for my own life. And I was like, all right, well, what things do I need to do differently? One of those things uh comes around my production because I wouldn't get the fulfillment out of it. Like I would I literally would feel like I was working myself down to the bone because I would just be so drained and like and overwhelmed from all right, again, good reason, right? Things picked up this year. That's great. So again, I either give it up altogether or have to do things differently. I kind of adopted, wanted to do some things differently. So one of the things I wanted I saw from my life is like, again, I want to travel more. I alright, you'd be like, Donnie, you travel twice a month. I mean, twice a year for a month at a time. What do you mean you want to travel more? I want to live outside the United States. I want to experience a different culture, but I also want to come back too, right? I want the best of both worlds. So as a result of this, and it happened through an interaction I had. I met this German guy, Matthias, and uh, we started talking. He he did photo editing and um and and through the conversation I was like oh you know what maybe I'll start downloading Lightroom and editing my photos. Editing my photos ended up turning into doing video like making videos and this trip I really stepped into the the uh the persona of a content creator of a uh a lifestyle vlogger or a coffee a coffee vlogger. So in the areas that I went to, I I recorded my coffee experiences giving my inputs on the coffees that I was having. And while I was there, I actually really felt like this was my identity, right? Because in in as I was going through it, it just felt very natural to me. This actually happened just before I was doing a review of a cafe in New York City. And so things just kind of started stacking, and I saw myself getting some momentum. And so when I got back, I was like, well, what do I want to do more of? What am I being called? And it's funny how this one interaction, actually, there was a couple interactions. One was uh this time last year, I met a guy named Colt who is pretty prolific on Instagram. I don't know if he does YouTube, but he he's pretty big on Instagram, so much so that he gets invited to speak at conferences for uh for the content he creates on social media. So when I met him, like I had missed my flight to Seoul, South Korea. And then I was sitting in the airport, tired as all hell, because I I don't even think I slept for like two days. And I saw him creating content in the airport, and we just started having a conversation. Like at that point, I was still nervous about stepping out and owning this uh this identity. So I was like telling him, I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna do it. And he's like, Yeah, man, I believe in you. Go ahead and do it. And then like I did some content, but I it was kind of like took a step forward, took a step back. So now I really felt myself embracing this new identity. So I am in the middle now of getting ready to post my first video on reviewing this cafe in New York City, an Italian cafe uh called Tazzador and Amazing Cafe, but you could watch that video on YouTube. Um, but that's one of the directions when I thought about how do I want to move forward. And one of those was to create content to make myself uh to make a thriving YouTube channel doing what I love. Like when I'm out in the in the world, when I was uh going back to Sri Lanka with some of my last days, I was with one of my friends, Flo, and we went to this, we went to, we were finding a place, looking for a place to watch the sunset. Needing to use a restroom, uh, we went into this hotel, this really, really nice hotel, and I started talking to the uh the guy behind the bar. And now here comes the coffee, here comes the coffee experiences. And I I can make a YouTube video just sharing or uh uh a podcast just sharing these. But we I went in there and I was like, hey, what do you have for coffee? And we because I wanted, I didn't, I feel always feel bad just going into a place and using the bathroom without you know uh buying something from them and and uh and patronizing the establishment, right? So they she went to use a bathroom. I was acquiring about the coffee, and then I he says, like, oh, launching coffee. I was like, what do you mean launching coffee? He's like, Oh, I make launching coffee. I was like, Well, how do you do it? He's like, Well, I steep it. I was like, done. So I'm like, right, I'm having coffee. I was so excited, like in literally the excitement level just turned on. Like it was like someone I went from like, well, I was actually feeling pretty good there. Say I went from like 60 up to like a thousand. I was so excited, and my friend Flo, she saw it in me. She's like, oh my God, you just like lit up. And um, this coffee, the coffee was actually delicious. So Laotian coffee, I'm sorry, I'm Sri Lankan coffee, not Laoshan coffee. I mean it. Uh Sri Lankan coffee, what they do is they steep the coffee in hot water and then they filter it through uh through a strainer. The result is a coffee that is usually pretty rich, but also has this very, very unique mouthfeel. Because they're straining it through a strainer, there's a lot of fines that get through the coffee, uh, through to the to the to the final beverage. And that leaves it, it kind of muddles uh the the experience on your tongue, but in a good way, because it gives it like this this body that you don't get from like espresso or any of the other coffees that were being prepared there. So I was super excited. So uh now I'm gonna go into this coffee rant. So he's making the cup of coffee, and I see him pull out a pink sand bucket. I'm like, what the hell? It was a actually so much so that in my phone, the guy's name is Samir Pink Bucket Coffee. And he he started, he put hot water, and this is definitely not sanitary, hygienic, and probably even safe. But I drank it. Uh, so he pulls out a sand bucket, it was clean, there's no sand in it, and it pours the hot water with the coffee into the sand bucket and starts stirring it. I'm like, what the frick is going on right now? All right, I'm doing it, and so I have the coffee and it was delicious. Um, oh my god, why was I going on this rant about the coffee, anyways? So we we end up going outside and um and oh yeah, I remember now. We end up going outside and watching the sunset, but it was through that, like I realized just how much I light up and how much passion I have for experiencing coffees in different places, and then wanting to share it because it it's just kind of a it's a it's a way of self-expression for me now. And wanting to build that platform so this way that would actually leverage, I could leverage that through my my coffee company. And so all that was one of the big takeaways. I was like, you know what, if there's one bit of guidance or one kind of like string that I could that I could rope that I could follow, it is this. And then that's where I am now. So now stepping in this new persona. So I I tell you all of that just to share to go back to what I said before, right? Like, all right, there is the noise, right? The noise in life is keeping you from what you want to do because you can't think differently because you're just you're always trying to do the next thing, catch the next thing, you're stressed out, you're worried, you gotta do this, you gotta do that. You gotta cut out the noise. The second thing is your environment. Like, you don't even know how much your environment influences you. You may be thinking, well, you know what? I, you know, I I live at home, I have, you know, it's really quiet, there's nothing around me. My environment's very peaceful. Bullshit. Step outside the world, and you realize that it might be the case most of the time, but you're still influenced because of the culture scape we live in. And maybe if you surround yourself by if you have a tribe of people around you that all feel the same way, then maybe you could sustain that even more. But there is uh an influence that comes just from living in the culture scape, which my my call to action is just to step out of it. So this way, when you come back, you can see more clearly of it. And then the last one was attachments. Like you when you step outside, right? When all right, me going on this trip, I let go of all attachments, every single thing I experience is new, right? My mind doesn't have anything to grasp onto as a result of that. I really take in and experience everything, even the shitty cup of coffees I've had. Like so many bad cup, so many bad cups of coffee. It was like I I wanted to give up coffee. That's how bad it was in many of the places. Then eventually I would get teased by a good cup of coffee, only to be followed up by many, many bad coffees again. Um, but letting go of all the attachments, you start to realize what is it that you really need and want for your life. But also you let go of just the emotional baggage, you just kind of shrug it off. Real quick point on that. One of my accounts uh had messaged me. So I was on the plane, and um I was, you know, I stopped at the airport. I think I might have been like in transit, I think I might have just landed in Seoul, and I I turned on my phone and I get a message from one of my accounts. He's like, Hey, uh, why isn't your phone working? I tried calling you two times, we're out of coffee. I'm like, and normally I would respond like kind of like oh my god, they're out of coffee. What am I gonna do? I gotta call I gotta have someone drop it up. But I didn't attach myself to it. I let it go. It's not mine. I was like, Well, I texted you several times, and I notified you that I was gonna be abroad and that I would be communicating through email. I sent you three emails, you didn't respond to any, and then they're like, Well, I didn't, I don't, I don't check my email. I notified you before. And rather than getting all worked up by that, I remembered this this lesson from uh from my friend. I was like, I'm not gonna attach myself to the situation or the emotions in it. I let it go and I preserved my peace. So the the attachment has many different facets to it, right? You can look at your attachment to things, your attachments to be, but also the attachments to just the emotions that you experience on a given day, because we tend to cycle through our emotions, but letting go of that attachment, all of a sudden you're filled with peace, serenity, and you you you could think straight again. So to bring it all back and uh to make it so this way you could apply it to your own life. And with and I'll give you some questions. Again, is like the noise. I mean, you can't spend some time alone. Like turn off the TV, put your keep your phone somewhere else, and just go for a walk. Right? In in this, it might be difficult for you to shut out all the noise while you're here without doing something so extreme as traveling to a third world country. It was a third world country, but traveling outside the country to turn it off. Just go for a walk, but leave your devices behind. So this way you're not just you're not being distracted and go for a long walk, not like 30 minutes, go for an hour, go to the water. There's a song that's called Um actually, I don't uh follow Follow the Sun is the number of song, not the Beatles song, it's called Follow the Song, uh Follow the Sun. Listen to that. That is my uh message to you in in a song. Um but just get away from the noise. Secondly, the culture escape, right? Like step away and just realize how much of the culture escape is affecting you. And the culture escape could be the I mean, we live in a place, and God bless, because like you know, many people are thriving because of it, but we live in a consum uh a culture that is that thrives on consumerism, right? There's always something they're you know, the TV, something's trying to poke at you this way to trigger you into response. And they know how to do it very, very well. If you don't believe that, then guess again. Because billions, if not more, are spent every single year to get you to buy these products, to put news out. Because when you're in a state of fear, anxiety, you tend to make irrational decisions. You think you need certain things when you really don't. You'd be surprised at how few things you can get by with and how much happier you will be as a result of not of being more simple. But the culture scape, you have to realize that you are being affected. When you realize you are being affected, then you can start to see, well, well, how am I being affected and what really matters? And then thirdly, is your attachment. What are you attached to? Not just what are you attached to with objects and people, but what are you attached to in your personality that is no longer serving you? Because there are components of your personality that probably don't serve you. You picked them up when you were younger because it was a coping mechanism. One of these things is people pleasing. I realize that, like I I was a people pleaser, right? Like it's so much so I would I can feel the energy of any room I walk into. And while some people label it as an empath, Alan Watts, I was listening to a YouTube of his, it really is a coping mism because you, when you're growing up, you realize that you have to be able to read the room so this way, you know, to know if it's safe or not. And so I became very good at that. And as a result of that, like I was always try to people please. So not being attached to the the the components of the that make up your own identity. I mean, they it this can go very, very deep. And then lastly, just look at where you've been spending your time, how you've been living, what you've been doing, and decide is this how I want to move forward in my life? And you don't have to look at life because that can be a little bit overwhelming. Let me look at the last 50 years, I'm not 50, I'm 44. Last 44 years of my life. Is this how I wanted to live my life? Like what things I want that's kind of overwhelming. Let's look at the last year because your year gives you more clues as to how you should be moving forward. What are the things you complained about? What are the things that are no longer serving you in your health, your your relationships, your friendships, uh, your spiritual life? Maybe you adopted a dogma that is no longer serving you. What are the things that are no longer serving you? And what was the philosophy you were following? And what needs to change in order to you to turn a new stone, to go down a new path, and to lead to just more happiness and joy in your life. And then the only thing you got to do is just start to take new steps. You don't have to change everything at once because then you're gonna get overwhelmed, you're not gonna make any changes. One change is all I ask you to make this year. Because often with that one change comes a plethora of changes, right? Because you change one thing, it's usually they call it a keystone habit because one thing that you change literally has a domino effect and starts to change all the different areas of your life. So just pick one thing, one thing you're gonna do differently. And when you go into, well, I would hopefully you'll do a few, maybe a couple of things more, right? Like just change, maybe get healthier. And but do one thing that's gonna shift your life in a direction that you want to go. And then we'll check back in maybe halfway through next year, and hopefully you'll be in a very, very different place, a better place, just more happier, more present, more akin to what really matters in life. So that is it for this rant. It's been a while since I've uh come on here to do one of these episodes. So as a result, it could maybe uh, you know, it wasn't as polished as I would have liked to have been, but I I think you can still sense my passion and my intent behind coming on here. And what my my intention was for you as the listener of this, and what I want you to take away. Basically live your one life, right? I'll leave that this is the last little thing I'll say. Because that you know, a lot of people talk about purpose. Like, what is the purpose? And this is something I was thinking of when I came back. Is it what is the purpose of life? And the thing the the the like the answer is in the question the purpose is life, life is the purpose to live. So so go out there and live. Don't be afraid, everything is temporary. What is already in your life your is is what you already know. And you could always pretty much come back to what you have right now, uh for the most part. Um, so just get out there, take some risks, take some new, make some new decisions. And I wish you an amazing 2026. Can't believe we're saying that, 2026. But God bless you guys. Thank you so so much for tuning in. Uh again, Merry Christmas to you. We're about two days out from Christmas. Merry Christmas. God bless you guys, and I will see you again in the next episode.