Walk in Faith

Hi, guys. My name is Donny Rouse, and you're listening to the podcast One Life, Walking in Faith. What does it mean to walk in faith? I think that there's two ways of walking right in life. There's two ways you can walk in faith or you can walk in fear. When you walk in fear, you're walking in everything that you're afraid of. You feel constricted. And these words are kind of not even my own. These are from the book the Traveler's Gift that I just read. And there's seven gifts in this book, and one of them was walking in faith. And that's what I'm going to touch about now. So the book says, when you don't walk in faith, when you're walking in fear and you have this fixed, you say you're a realist and you have this fixed way of how things have to turn out. You're shutting yourself off from the miracles that are open to you, that are available and that want to make their way to you. I like to. The story I'm about to tell you is kind of like a mix between faith and surrender. When I. In the story that I feel like I'm flabbering here, but the story I want to share with you is one. When I first started my coffee career, I had. So to give you a little bit of backstory, I was dating a girlfriend of six years, almost six years, and I was working in corporate America. When I was in corporate America, I was miserable. Miserable. I had done nine months of investment banking because I thought that was going to make me happy. I thought having money was going to make me happy. But then I realized that I didn't like the work environment. It wasn't me. So I left. I went to work in corporate finance, doing accounting. I did that for about a year and a half and realized that I couldn't search any more of the Internet than I had searched the entire World Wide Web. And there was nothing else to search. That that's how bored I was. And again, I realized that was for me. I'd put off doing coffee. And coffee had always been my passion since I was a kid. And I'd put that off because it wasn't really. It wasn't really acceptable as a career. Right. I just finished four years of college. There was pressure from my parents, my father, specifically, to get that corporate job to make my money. Then as a result of saving, then opening that cafe, then starting that coffee business. But I had a different way of doing things. I didn't Want to. I wasn't going to waste my life. I wasn't going to put off all those years till some future point in time where then one day I would save the money, then I would open the cafe, and I would waste all these years in between. I said, no, I'm going to do it now. When I made the decision to leave corporate America, my girlfriend was giving me shit. My girlfriend at the time, because she had plans for my life. She wanted to a couple more years, she wanted to be married, she wanted to start popping out kids. That wasn't what I wanted. And when I made the decision to leave corporate America to work at a cafe, she wasn't happy with it. And there was something else that was going on with it as well. I can't remember if there was some kind of argument that we had gotten in over something that had to do with a friend and there was another someone making rumors about me. But I was under a lot of stress nevertheless. I remember one day I was driving to work, I had the opening shift. And to give you a little bit backstory, the reason why my father was giving backlash, because I was making less than, like, I was making minimum wage, having graduated to college with a degree in finance. I was making minimum wage, getting paid less than high school students because they were there longer for me. And so I had. It felt like very, very heavy. As I was driving to work one morning to open up the cafe, I remember looking at a stop, like, coming up to a stoplight and saying, lord, I cannot take it. This is who. This is too much for me. I felt like I was going to break. And then I just said something like, I surrender. And at that moment, I remember, like, the sun came through a cloud and, like, gleamed right in my car. It felt like it was a spotlight on me. In that moment, all the tension, all the stress literally disappeared. After that, I went on to work at the cafe. I didn't stay there for much longer because while I was there, the managerial job became open and I was overlooked for that position. So I said, you know what? Screw this. I'm not going to put more effort into this business. And that's when I left and I started doing my own thing. I went to Rome, Italy, for six months. And then when I was in Rome, I just, like, I fell even more in love with the art of espresso. That's one of the reasons why I went to Rome in the first place. And I fell in love with travel. When I came back, I became the. I did something called The Connecticut Coffee Society, where I started one of the. I think it was the largest coffee meetup in the United States. And I went on to do a public televised cupping that aired on both sides of the United States. It was one of the first cuppings. This is when coffee was becoming a thing in the United States. And then I went on to lead a group of roasters in what's called the Northeast Roasters Retreat, followed by my business. So why do I tell you this? What does this story have to do with your story, with your life? It is to remind you that when you step out in faith, when you're following your heart, things will unfold for you. But it requires you to first take that step. You have to make the move first. You have to move forward, you have to charge. And then as you do it. And it's not going to be easy. I promise you, it's not going to be easy, but it'll be worth it. And as a result of taking that decision, it just keeps. Things will evolve. Things will open up. You'll get more clarity about what it is that you want to do, where it is you want to go. Whatever the decision may be, once you take the action, that's when the clarity comes. And it's so easy to forget that. I mean, this past week, I had taken a month off. I've been in Florida for the last month and a half, maybe two months, or I don't even. Can't even count. But I'd been bouncing around because I wasn't able to nail down an apartment. Maybe psychologically, maybe there's part of me that didn't want to be here. I don't know. But to get away, to give myself some peace, I came to visit a pet friend in Palm Beach. And truth be told, I was actually hesitant to do that because I'm like, well, what am I gonna do there? I don't know if I want to go there. But then I booked it anyways. And as a result of booking that, I got what I needed in the sense that I got some peace. I got some more space around the thoughts, I got more awareness around kind of like stories and disempowering beliefs that I've been telling myself. But none of that would have happened. So everything is part of a journey. None of that would have happened if I didn't make. If I didn't take action, if I didn't change my environment here. I was resistant to do it. I was ready to stay in Miami and jump somewhere, like, go to another place. But nothing would have happened if I did not change, if I did not do something new again. Back to your life. Where are you right now? What are you doing? What are you doing on a daily basis? And if you're wondering why you're not getting where you want to go, what are you doing on a daily basis? Are you changing at all? Are you doing anything different to move towards your goals or at least to give you some clarity and open up your mind to other possibilities? If it's no, then I invite you to do something. Do something to open up your mind. Maybe it's communicating with a new group. I joined a book club, and in that book club, we were discussing a book called Tribes and a book called the Confidence. Something. I don't remember the name of the book, but nevertheless, it was very empowering being there, being around people who wanted to better themselves. And that is just one way of surrounding yourself with people who are all striving to be better or all wanting the same thing that you want. Maybe it's a trip. Maybe you want to book a trip, right? And you join a travel group where people just talk about their trips. Do that, join the group, get inspired, be around people who inspired people who've done it before. And as a result of being around those people, new things will come to your mind. And as a result, you'll be inspired to take new action. And those people who are in the group will encourage you because they know how easy it is because they've been there. So whenever it is, take an action and step forward in faith. Trust that everything is going to be all right. Sometimes I literally flip flop between fear and faith, fear and faith, fear and faith, fear and faith. Literally, just like I said it, that's how I flip flop back and forth. I'll go into this panic state, then I'll remember, okay, no, have faith. I know exactly what I want. I trust that everything's going to work out and then go back and then again, say the same thing to myself. And as I had said in prior podcasts, when we catch ourselves in that state and keep catching ourselves and being aware and bringing awareness to that state, we start to break the hold of that state. Because all it is is a circuit in our mind. All it is is a little record that keeps replaying and replaying and replaying. But the more we break the pattern, the more we skip that record, the less likely it is to play. So again, this is all about designing a life that is right for you. Designing a life that you're passionate about designing a life that you love. So what would it be, or what would it mean to step forward in faith? Think of your life. Think of the one thing that you want. It's one of those things that literally scares a living piss out of you. What would it mean to act in faith? What would the next action be if you were to act in faith, knowing that everything's coming to you when it's supposed to come to you, and that it's not going to happen until you take that first step? What would that first step in faith be? That is the step I want you to take. It might be scary. Without a doubt. It's always scary when you're going into territory that's uncharted, territory you've never been before. And if you feel fearful about that, I invite you to send me a message. Send me a direct message via Instagram and I'll be there by your side, whatever it is you want to do. Maybe it's leaving the job. Maybe it's leaving your boyfriend, girlfriend, partner, whatever it is. Maybe it's taking that trip. Maybe it's starting that business. I think I said that twice. But whatever it is, I want you to have the most happy and fulfilling life. So if I could support you in that, send me a message via instagram@donny-o n n y rouse r a u s.com that is all I've got for you guys today. If you enjoy this, please share this podcast with your family, friends, and everyone you meet. Because I feel like everyone needs that reassurance. Everyone needs to know that it's okay to follow your heart. It's okay to put yourself first, do the things that are important to you. Because it's your life and you only get one. That is it. Guys, I hope you enjoyed this podcast. God bless and I will see you again next week.