WHOA That's Good Podcast - How Small Things Can Help with Big Struggles | Sadie Robertson Huff & Tay Lautner
Episode Date: May 29, 2024Sadie chats with Tay Lautner, co-host of “The Squeeze” podcast and founder of The Lemons Foundation, an organization that encourages and advocates for those struggling with their mental health. Sa...die reads Tay some of her DMs pertaining to mental health questions and struggles, and they both share their hard-won wisdom and experience from their own lives and struggles. As a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tay has come face-to-face with burnout, stress and post-traumatic stress disorder, but she passes on several helpful bits of advice and techniques to battle mental health trials. This Episode of WHOA That's Good is Sponsored by: https://factormeals.com/whoa50 — Get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next box when you use code whoa50! https://drinkag1.com/whoa — Get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D3+K2 AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first subscription! https://preborn.com/sadie — Visit the website or dial #250 and use keyword BABY to donate now. - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcript
Discussion (0)
So May is actually Mental Health Awareness Month.
And it's so important that we have a conversation
on mental illness because honestly,
so many of you guys are struggling with it.
And to be honest, I have too in the past.
And so I'm so excited to talk about this,
but I just wanna give you some statistics
just so you know as you're listening,
if you're struggling, you are not alone.
These are sad statistics, but at the same time,
I think it's good to just be aware
that in any given year, one in five Americans will be diagnosed with a mental illness. So 44 million people
on any year can be diagnosed with a mental illness. There's more than 200 classified
forms of mental illness, which I thought was really fascinating because I, you know, off
the top of my head, only think of a couple, but there's so many different ways that people are struggling.
Anxiety disorder is the most common
with 42 million people struggling with anxiety disorder.
22.5 million people struggling with major depression
and 4.8 million youth struggling with depression.
Obviously, suicidal thoughts and even actions
are so high right now as well.
And so that's why we're having this conversation.
I just want to say first and foremost, too, if you are someone who is struggling with
suicidal thoughts, please get the help you need.
If you need a number to call, you can call 988.
And that actually is available 24-7 for free support to help you get through these hard and dark times.
Please do not walk this alone, friend.
If you need help, get help.
And if you're not ready to talk to a friend or a loved one,
then call 9-8-8 and get the help that you need.
I also just wanna provide you guys
with some scriptures as well.
Some of you are kinda maybe facing some anxiety,
some depression, just waves of it.
We had some DMs come in,
and we didn't get to discuss this on the podcast because there's so many DMs, but a lot of them on how does God help people
through mental illness? How does God play a part in this? And I just think God is a huge part in
this one because God created the mind. God created you, friend. He knows what you're walking through
and the Psalms give us a beautiful example of people really walking out those mental battles with the Lord and that the Lord cares to
you, that He's with you. There's a couple verses that you can turn to, but one
verse I want to read before we kind of dive into this podcast is John 14 27 and
it says, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do
I give to you. Let your hearts
not be troubled, neither let them be afraid." And you know, I think sometimes we just hear
verses like, oh yeah, let your heart not be troubled or afraid. And we think that this
is like a command, like we just have to obey the command. We just have to not be afraid
of we're a Christian. But that's not what God's saying. That's not what Christ is saying.
He's saying, you don't need to be afraid.
You don't have to be troubled
because I am going to be with you.
Receive my peace.
Later on in the Bible, in 1 Timothy,
it says that God hasn't given us a spirit of fear,
but want to power love and a sound mind.
Again, that's not saying you need to have power.
You need to muster up love.
You need to have this sound mind.
And God's saying, I'm giving you this.
I've given you power.
I've given you love.
I've given you a sound mind.
And so where I think God comes in
is he is the anchor of our mental health.
We have to receive his peace.
We get to receive his joy.
That's what says the joy of the Lord is our strength.
Not the joy that you find in the world, not the joy that you find in the world,
not the joy that you find in the temporary things,
the joy of the Lord.
And so, you know, whenever we come to know Christ,
whenever we are baptized into Christ,
the old self is gone, the new comes alive,
and then we get to identify as Christ.
We get to identify with Him.
And so we get to receive His peace.
We get to receive His joy. we get to receive His joy,
we get to receive being a daughter or a son of God,
that spirit of adoption.
And so probably a lot of what I just said,
you might wanna break down with a pastor and a friend,
but I just had to say that here at the beginning,
that God is like anchor point of mental health.
If you need help, go to God, the one that created the mind
and receive His peace, receive his joy, receive his love.
There are so many great verses that you guys can dive into.
There's so many great things,
but overall, I just wanted you to catch that.
Again, another verse, if you're going through depression,
like I mentioned the psalmist, Psalms 42,
David actually says,
why are you so downcast on my soul?
Why are you so troubled?
And he says, I put my hope in God, for you are my Savior, you are my God. And again, he's
just putting it on God. God, give me your peace. God, help my soul to be at peace.
You are my Savior. You are my God. Would my mind be fixated on that? A question
that someone sent in is, why do people not talk about mental health in the
church? And I think that people are, people are starting,
but I think one reason why people,
like Christians are struggling to admit it
is because they think that it's a lack of faith
on their part, or maybe that it's embarrassing
or it's weakness.
Friend, it is never weakness to confess.
It's never weakness to share or to open up
to someone about it.
And that's a lot of what me and this guest are doing today.
We're just talking as friends
and hopefully giving you some advice
to help you get out of the mental fog
or the place that you're in in your life.
So if you need help, get help.
Don't stay in hiding, don't stay in the dark.
Definitely get a friend.
And I hope that this podcast is a great resource
and it helps you along your journey.
What's up everybody?
Happy Wednesday.
I'm back with another podcast.
I'm gonna be talking about the podcast
that I'm gonna be talking about today. And I'm gonna be talking about the podcast that I'm gonna be talking about today. What's up everybody?
Happy Wednesday.
I hope you're having a great week, but friends, it's about to get so much better because I
have mentioned this already, but it is mental health month and I am so excited to invite
the one and only girl, Tay, Lou, to the Will That's Good podcast.
I should say back to the Will That's Good podcast,
because you've already been here, but welcome back.
Thanks for having me again.
So fun.
I'm so excited to get to talk to you.
I love that we get to do this.
It's so fun.
You guys are crushing the podcast world right now.
And it's just been so cool.
I know I said this before we started recording,
but I'm going gonna say it again,
because if you guys aren't listening to Lemons
and all the things that the squeeze, I said Lemons,
if you guys aren't listening to the squeeze,
then you gotta be because it's so good.
You guys have had such incredible interviews
and y'all are so much fun.
So it's a joy to have you back on now
and y'all are like full on podcasters.
Oh my gosh.
I mean, likewise, yeah, I feel like I still don't really know what I'm doing half the
time.
I'm just showing up and talking to people, but I guess that's what it is.
So it's clearly working.
So I'm just going to keep doing that.
It's definitely working.
And that's what people want.
That's the beauty of podcasting is that it really just is that. It's having conversations with people.
And I mean, for the longest time, you know, people ask me,
like, if I meet someone in an airport and they don't know who I am,
and they're like, oh, what do you do?
And I never knew what to say to that question.
And then I finally just started saying, oh, I have a podcast.
And at first, it sounded funny because it seems like crazy
that this could be my job, that I just get to have
such awesome conversations with people.
But yes, it's working and it's effective
and it impacts people.
Because I think we're so used to having these like
fast little things that you see on TikTok
or that you see on Instagram,
and it's fun and it serves its purpose.
But to get to like lean in on other people's
intentional conversations is truly, it's such a gift.
I think it makes everybody better. So I love that y'all are doing that.
Yeah, thanks. It's so funny you say that because whenever we have done like press for the podcast before, you know,
those like interviews are like two minutes max. Like they're so quick.
And so like we'll do that and then we're done and I'm like,
wait, we didn't even say anything
because I'm so used to sitting down
and talking for like an hour.
So it's really funny, like the difference between that now,
I've never like thought about that before.
But now that I do like have these long conversations
with people when I do something different
that is like even five, 10 minutes, it's over.
And I'm like, oh, well, that was quick.
No, it's so true.
Yeah, and even like with Instagram,
I feel like I used to be so much better.
I've circled the runway, I guess.
I've come back around and I've gotten better at it again.
But back in the day, like I would post good captions
and like be really engaged on Instagram.
And then when I started podcasting,
I feel like I kind of left that because I was like,
so into the conversations I was having.
I was like, oh, well, if you want to know
about that conversation, then go listen on the podcast,
you know, and now I kind of have a balance where I'm like,
okay, let me take the conversations I'm having
and try to condense them in a way that it's meaningful
on this fast-paced app, you know,
cause I think there's a way for it all.
But yeah, podcasting is my favorite platform by far.
I just love it.
I love other people's podcasts.
I love doing my own.
It's just awesome.
So anyways, today what we're gonna do is is kind of merge the two as well because we are
going to be reading our DMs that people have sent in and we have so many DMs on mental
health.
So if we really were going to read all of them, this would be like an entire year series.
So we have only chosen the top like eight or nine questions that I feel like are really
important and I think will
really touch people and especially just with your story.
But first, and typical well that's good fashion, I'll ask you the question with a twist and
that is, Tae, what's the best piece of mental health advice you feel like you've been given
over the years?
This question I debated for a good 20 minutes because I feel like, especially just over
this past year and a half since having the podcast, I have learned so many great little
nuggets of wisdom.
But I think something that has really stuck out to me. I honestly think my husband said it first, that's where I heard it was,
it's really good to feel your emotions.
If you're going through a hard time, be sad, cry it out,
feel those emotions, but it's important
that we don't get stuck and we don't live in those
and that we don't let those define us.
So people are always like,
it can get easy to get stuck there,
but you don't want to deprive yourself
of having a mourning period or having, you know,
that time that, you know, you need to feel the sadness
if you lost someone or if you're going
through a grieving period.
But it's important to not let that define you
and continue to move forward and grow from that.
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That's so good, I love that.
And I actually think sometimes it's like
when you withhold the tears, it's when you do get stuck
because a lot of times it's like when you withhold
and you hold it in, like there's only so long
that that really can live there
before it finally just like explodes, you know?
And I used to be a person where I would just like,
hold onto things, wait to cry, wait to get upset.
And then when it did come out,
it was like the end of the world,
you know?
And so I do think when you're able to just be in touch with your emotions and with your
feelings and get it out and share it with a friend, like as you go, instead of getting
to the point where it's like you literally can't hold it back and it explodes, man, it's
so much better.
And I think like to that point, one thing when I talk about mental illness that I want to be cautious
of is not getting stuck with a diagnosis, not letting a diagnosis define you and who
you are, because I had a moment one time that was so powerful to me.
This is not necessarily a mental illness or anything, but I have struggled with dyslexia.
And it was really interesting because one day I was prepping
for Passion Conference and we were talking about having
the teleprompter and I said, oh, can you send me all the
notes ahead of time?
I was talking to production, can you send me all the notes
ahead of time because I'm dyslexic and I'm worried about
reading it in real time.
And Jen Johnson was right there in that room
and she's an awesome worship leader.
And she said, oh, no, no, no.
She was like, no, we do not say I am.
She's like, you do not say I am dyslexic.
That is not who you are.
That might be something that you struggle with,
but that is not who you are.
So you're gonna rephrase that.
And I like loved it so much that she said,
it kind of caught me off guard for a second. Like, wait, what?
I didn't even realize I said, I am.
But she said, there is so much power in saying, I am.
I mean, literally in Exodus,
one of the most powerful moments of scripture
is when Moses asked God,
who should I say that you are when they asked me to God?
And God says, I am who I am.
Like the I am is who I am.
I am all things, I am God.
And then Jesus ends up saying, you know,
I'm the resurrection life, I'm the bread of life, I am.
So I am is a powerful statement.
And when you come into agreement with I am this,
you're putting that as a part of your identity
and as a part of who you are.
Where the Bible says like, you know,
you haven't been given the spirit of fear,
but one of a sound mind.
And I just love that it says that.
Then it goes on to say, you've given a spirit of one
that can cry out Abba Father.
So who you are is a child of God.
Who you are is Taylor, it's Sadie, it's who you are.
And so as we talk about mental illness,
and we're about to, you might be someone who has gotten
a diagnosis of anxiety, of depression,
of whatever it is that your mental illness is.
And I understand there's over 200 different
mental illnesses out there,
so there's a lot that you could be identifying with.
Just not to make that your full identity, you know,
you are so much more than that.
And I don't believe that you have to stay stuck in that.
I believe that there are things that you can do
to get the help you need to come out of the cycle
that you're in or the space that you're in.
And so we're gonna talk about just some of the things
that we've been through.
Neither one of us, I don't think would claim to be an expert.
I certainly will not.
Nope.
I know Tay has a lot of things going in this world,
but we're just two friends, sisters and friends
who are trying to help you out along the way,
just from things that we personally experience
and through the questions that you guys have asked.
But before we dive in fully to the questions,
Tay, can you tell a little bit about what got you
so passionate about talking about mental health
and your foundation and everything.
Yeah.
So I guess my love for mental health started
when I was young.
I had a lot of members in my family struggle with addiction,
whether that be from like smoking all the way to heroin.
There was a wide range and I watched a lot of members
of my family kind of struggle with that.
My cousin in particular, he was like, he's my closest, I'm an only child, so he's like my
closest like family. He was like a brother to me in age and we would like hang out all the time.
When I was a kid and he overdosed on heroin, was in the ICU,
had all of these things.
And I remember leaving the ICU and it's the first time,
I don't really know why my parents brought me.
I do question that because I was like eight or nine years old
and he was like intubated, had everything.
It scared the crap out of me because I've never touched drugs
so I think maybe that was their goal.
But I remember getting home and I was like,
why did he let that happen?
How did he get to that point?
As a young kid trying to understand what addiction was,
you can't really explain that to that young of a kid.
But I watched my family struggle with that for years.
And then fast forward, my best guy friend in high school,
he ended up getting diagnosed with bipolar
and took his life during a manic episode
when we were in college.
And that kind of like rocked me
because I had no clue that he was struggling.
It was a new thing that he was struggling with.
And that kind of like really lit a fire
in me to talk about it more.
Um, and then fast forward to COVID, I registered nurse, I worked as a COVID nurse and then
that obviously left me with some mental health struggles because that was a little, a little
bit of a rough, a rough time.
Yeah, for sure.
But yeah, I ended up having to leave the hospital
because of my mental health.
I just could not, I could not go back.
But once I left, I was like, you know,
I have a little bit of a following on social media.
I want to try to use my platform to give back
and share what I'm going through
because so many people are struggling right now,
not just our healthcare workers,
but everyone, even if you're just sitting at home,
everyone is struggling.
So I started this little blog called Lemons By Tay,
and that kind of morphed into a nonprofit,
which is a mental health nonprofit
called the Lemons Foundation,
where we're really focused on accessible
and digestible mental health resources.
Because trying to figure out if you Google how to better my mental health,
that's really overwhelming. So we really work on giving people easy steps.
And then after that came the podcast, The Squeeze. And that is a mental health
based podcast that Taylor, my husband and I do together
and we've been doing that for like a year and a half
and it's just been the most like fun, rewarding,
we call it free therapy.
It's been amazing.
That's awesome.
That's my mental health little overview.
I love it.
Well, I think that is so true
when you Google something like that,
like how to help my mental health
and you kind of think like, oh man, the first thing's going to be so helpful.
But then you're just like drowning in the 1 million different things that people are
saying and then, you know, things are click baiting and advertising and you don't know
if it's like really good for you or if it's just, you know, making a dollar.
And I mean, even for me this past week, I was like, man, I just want to do like a full
body like I want to feel better.
What kind of food plan should I be on to feel better?
So I literally Googled food plan for full body feeling better.
And I was like, oh my gosh.
There was thousands of different options.
And then I ended up not doing anything,
because I was like, don't know which one's good.
And so anyways, to say what a great thing
to have a resource and a place to go where you're like,
okay, this is just a girl and a team of people who get it
and are actually trying to help.
And then what an awesome thing to then start a podcast
to dive into deeper conversations.
I just love it.
And I love that you have personally experienced this
in your life through different people in your own way,
but are willing to open up the conversation
to people who have experienced mental health
in so many different aspects,
and that's what I love about you guys' podcast.
It's so awesome.
So, okay, let's get to the questions that people sent in.
We'll go simple first,
and I think this is just a really great question,
and kind of like what we just talked about,
like how to help in the day-to-day.
So someone just simply said,
what are some day to day coping mechanisms
that you guys do for a mental illness?
I think coping for me is, you know,
if I, sometimes I'll wake up and I'll be like, ooh,
like I woke up like not on the wrong side of the bed,
but on the wrong side of the bed of like,
my depression's like kind of shown a little bit today,
my anxiety is feeling it.
And what I've kind of learned to do is, you know,
I'll go and I'll tell Taylor, hey, you know,
I'm having one of those days
I think I'm gonna like work from bed today.
He's like, great, do you need anything?
I'm like, no, I'm okay.
So just like saying it has helped me
in making like your partner or your family,
whoever you live with, aware of it
so that they don't expect things from you
because I'm not good at voicing how I feel.
So once I get that out of the way,
Taylor's not like, let's go do this and this and this.
And then I feel bad and need to do it.
He knows what state I'm in.
So then he's able to level his expectation of,
maybe we're not gonna go on a run today,
maybe I'll bring your breakfast to bed
or something like that.
Becoming aware of it and saying it
is probably the biggest thing.
For me, I love breathing techniques.
Yes, that is so helpful.
Breathing and affirmations have been a really big thing
for me and I think that's something that's really cool
because you can do it no matter what religion you are
and I think something that's simple like that is cool.
If you do have a relationship with Jesus,
you can work that into breath work or meditation.
I feel like we hear those and it's kind of like,
well, that's not prayer, so I'm not gonna meditate.
There's a way for us to still put that in.
So I love to meditate prayer, it's kind of the same thing,
but I love to have that quiet time where I can just breathe
and talk to God or work through my day
or try to just silence my mind.
Those would be my biggest coping things that I try to do like silence my mind, those would be like my biggest coping things
that I try to do like almost every day.
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Breathing is like so important, but it's such a thing that you don't think about because
breathing obviously comes naturally, like you're going to be breathing, but intentional breathing
changes everything.
Like I remember, and I probably told this story last time you were on the podcast just
because I'm sure we talked about breathing.
I honestly can't remember.
It's been a while, but I remember during the Dance with the Stars days, I was like so stressed and so anxious.
And I didn't really realize I was stressed and anxious
because a lot of times, like, if it's not necessarily
happening in my mind, my body will be carrying it, you know?
Like, I was like, oh, this is fun.
This is great.
But then at the same time, like the weight of what I was doing
was definitely settling in on my body.
And I remember the doctor who was on set, same time, like the weight of what I was doing was definitely settling in on my body.
And I remember the doctor who was on set, he was kind of like chiropractic doctor type
person and he was telling me to relax.
I was telling him I am relaxed.
And then he said, your body is not touching the table.
And I literally didn't even realize like my whole back and like my butt, everything was
like off the table because I was so tense.
And I was just trying to lay there with, like, my shoulders and my heels, essentially.
And he said, you're literally not even on the table.
Like, you need to breathe.
And I thought that was so funny and that I just wasn't really breathing.
I was so tense.
And he said what he, and he was a believer and he said, you know, God breathed life into
the universe.
And he said, so right now we're going to think about that, that God literally breathe life into man at the very beginning of the story.
And then she said, so right now I want you to think about every part of your body and I want you to breathe life into it.
He said, we're going to breathe life into your legs.
And I did it. And he said, we're going to breathe life into your arms. We're going to breathe life into your shoulders. We're going to breathe life into your legs. And I did it. And they said, we're going to breathe life into your arms. We're going to
breathe life into your shoulders. We're going to breathe
life into your mind. And I have circled back to that so many
times, like, just intense moments, stressful moments,
stressful situations, like, okay, I'm going to breathe life
into every part of my body right now. And just taking time to
like with my breath, intentionally think about the
different parts of my body that need to just be relaxed.
And that's helped me so much.
And then like another practical thing, I love what you said, just telling your person like
being able to say, Hey, this is kind of where I'm at right now.
For me, I actually like, like I love to go on walks.
It's so good for my mind.
And so I'll tell Christian Lee, I have so much going on in my brain right now.
I just need to walk it out.
And I don't even want to like talk about it necessarily
half the time, because then that might even make me
get worked up.
I'm just like, I just need to walk and just think it out.
And so that's been so helpful.
And the last tip that has been helpful for me is,
this, I know you guys talked to Dr. Amen,
but putting your hands under warm water,
that has been such a easy coping thing
that has helped me so much with anxiety.
Christian will tell me,
you need to go put your hands under warm water
when he can tell that I'm getting anxious.
And it calms me down every time,
because like I mentioned,
your body sometimes reacts, even sometimes for me,
before my mind catches up with what's happening.
And so my body will show the signs of anxiety,
like I might be a little shaky or whatever.
And he says, when your body's reacting,
and then it tells your mind,
it goes into panic mode immediately,
because it's like something's wrong, something's happening.
But if you're able to calm your body,
then it'll kind of help you calm your mind.
And so Dr. Amen told me to put my hands under warm water and it is crazy how helpful that has been.
So it is cool with like mental illness because it's such a big thing that there are really
small things that you can do that have a huge effect on it.
So I love that question.
This is a really good question too, along the notes of like you've seen family members
and friends walk through this and you yourself have.
What are some of the warning signs and symptoms that you can like go back and think, like
you even said, as eight years old, you thought what led him to that point?
You know, what are some of the warning signs you can look for in friends or even yourself
and some symptoms that you feel like are the beginning stages?
I think something that happens a lot
is just to look for changes in mood,
whether it's someone else or yourself.
If someone's being distant, if they're feeling closed off,
if they, you know,
this is like, this is one of the signs for like,
for if someone's suicidal,
if you're questioning if a friend is, you know,
another one is like, I don't know why,
this is the only example I can think of.
If they're like giving away their stuff,
if they're like, if they start like gambling a bunch or if,
which I don't think any of your audience really does that, but that's the only example that's coming to mind right now.
But if they're doing like erratic behavior that is not normally themselves giving things away,
just like changes in behavior. For me, I was dissociating pretty bad when I was struggling
with my stuff and I didn't realize that I was
until my husband pointed it out.
And then once he pointed it out, I was like,
oh, like I am doing that.
Like I'm actually like really like not like present at all.
And I don't think I was like present
for probably like two years after that.
Like it probably took like from like December of 2020, it probably took me like, from, like, December of 2020,
it probably took me, like, a year and a half,
like, two years to, like, fully feel like I was, like, actually, like, present again.
Um, I think those, I think those probably would be
kind of the symptoms that you can look for in other people,
um, but also yourself.
And you're like, you know, feeling, you know,
like no motivation, sleepy.
Being sleepy is fine.
And also being sleepy can be like,
if you're sick or you could have like a vitamin deficiency
or you know, it can be those other things.
So like make sure to get those checked too.
That's so real.
But yeah, that could be like a big thing too.
Sometimes I'm like, I don't want to get out of bed,
but I'm like, is this like my anxiety talking
or like, did I just like eat processed food for dinner?
Cause I eat healthy, I eat healthy.
So when I eat like fast food or something that's processed,
I'm like, oof, that was rough.
But yeah, just kind of like checking in on yourself
and not getting, if you, if you like see one of those
symptoms, like if you're listening right now
and you're like, oh my gosh, like I've been having those
things like don't panic.
Like that doesn't mean you like have all of these things.
Like it literally could be a simple, oh, like I'm lactose
intolerant and I like had milk in my coffee this morning.
And that's why I'm like, you know, so don't don't like, take it and run, take it and process.
I think that's actually such good advice
because I think that's the problem with so many things.
And again, like Googling stuff,
it's like we take things and run with it.
It's like Google the symptoms of a headache
and all of a sudden you have a brain tumor
and you're like, oh my gosh, you go to the extreme.
And I think so often we do things like that
with mental health, it's like, oh, I had a bad day,
does this mean I'm depressed?
Or I'm a little bit anxious, does this mean I have anxiety?
Or do I need to go to the doctor for this?
Or is this gonna be a problem for the rest of my life?
And I think part of being strong mentally
is being able to recognize,
you know, when, okay, maybe, yeah, I am stressed right now
or I am anxious right now, but of course I am
because look at all the things I did today,
or yeah, I don't feel great, but of course I don't.
I just, yeah, had three donuts and a Coke and what,
you know what I mean?
Like, yes, there are some things that are just gonna lead
to the cause has an effect, you know?
And I love how my counselor, she's so awesome,
and she always says, like,
I'll tell her everything I have going on.
And I'm like, I'm really anxious,
but she goes, yeah, well, that checks out.
Of course you are.
Like, of course you feel that way.
And then she just kind of helps me get back on track.
So it's like, yeah, don't stay in that.
Don't stay stuck in that.
Just get back on track.
And I will say, yeah, sometimes it's easier than others.
I mean, I remember going through a period
where I didn't feel good.
I was tired for a while.
Went to the doctor, checked my vitamins.
My vitamin D was like so low that I ended up taking
like the 5,000 whatever every day and then 40,000 once a week
just to get me back on track.
And after that, I felt so much
better. Not to mention like my skin cleared up, my stomach started feeling
better. So sometimes it's just like as simple as a vitamin deficiency or it's
just like the effect of what the after effect of what your week looked like or
the season of life that you're in. But then there are other times where like
there was a bigger time in my life where it was actually after I had honey,
this was more of like the postpartum anxiety phase. And I would say like the beginning signs
of me heading towards this deeper postpartum anxiety that led me to like full on burnout,
don't want to do anything, want to quit everything that I'm doing kind of place.
The beginning was, it was like the normal things
that give me excitement in life
were like making me so anxious and I didn't wanna do them.
Like I did not wanna read my Bible.
It made me anxious to read.
Like I didn't even, like it made me feel
like there's pressure on me.
I didn't wanna watch sermons.
I didn't wanna listen to music.
I didn't want to like, I just didn't want to do anything
that like would make me feel better
or that I typically would enjoy doing.
And so I think sometimes, you know,
and I wanted every event of mine to get canceled.
Like I was hoping it would get canceled.
I didn't want to show up.
I didn't want to go to things like,
and so I think when you look at your life and it's like bigger things where
all of a sudden like nothing, you don't really have a desire to do anything.
Like you're getting anxious about the smallest things. You kind of want things
to be canceled because you just want to be home. Like that might be like the
time to check in with people around you and say, hey, like something might be off,
or I'm feeling this depression or this anxiety.
That might be the time go to a counselor,
start to get the help that you need,
and if it's lasting for a period of time,
because that was like, I had honey in May,
and then I kind of had like a full on,
felt like a breakdown come November.
So that was about six months of just not really opening it up, not really telling anybody
what I was feeling, not really discussing it until finally I was sitting down with a
friend and I just let it all out and was like, I just want to quit everything and I don't
want anything.
I don't want to do any of it.
I don't want to read my Bible and I don't want to... And she just was like, "'Hey, you're really just experiencing burnout.'"
And guess what?
She said,
"'That doesn't mean it's over.
That just means you need to get help.'"
And I think that was like so encouraging to me
because in my mind,
like if you get to the point of burnout,
then like you're done.
Like it was so encouraging for her to be like,
"'Yeah, that's what you're experiencing,
but that doesn't mean it's over.
That just means you need to get help so that you can thrive
and that you can actually do better.
And what my version of getting help looks like was,
I actually ended up meeting with this life coach
and it's kind of like counselor,
but like life coach type person.
And he just helped me get my life on track.
Like literally looked at all the things I was doing.
Like he calls it like the green and the red. Like what good things are you putting in, what bad things, like
what do you live in the state of more, just like simple little things.
And I spent a couple days talking it out and like got so much better.
I know that that might not be practical for everyone.
Maybe it's a counselor setting, maybe it's a doctor, whatever that looks like, but just
get the help you need so that you don't stay there. Which I think is such a cool theme
of this whole conversation we're having,
just not staying there.
And someone actually asked about burnout,
which I just kinda hit on.
I was just gonna say, is there a question on burnout?
Because I have something to say, so go ahead.
Yes, speak to that.
I can't even remember, okay, how do you know
if you're experiencing burnout was the question.
And so yeah, I would love to hear your story too.
I remember whenever I found out I was pregnant with Honey and Haven and just being so excited
and overwhelmed at the same time.
Finding out I was pregnant gave me all the crazy feelings, but I'm so thankful that I
had Christian and my family there to support me.
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Yeah.
So burnout was like something I very, very, very much experienced.
And I think I didn't realize,
I think I kinda knew I was getting burnt out,
but I was like, no, I'm not burnt out.
I haven't been working for long enough to be burnt out.
And that's something I learned very fast.
And we recently just had this nurse on the podcast
and she validated me so much.
I literally started crying and this is four years later.
But burnout doesn't mean you have to work for 10 years
and you get burnt out.
I got burnt out in six months of working COVID
because of how insane it was.
So if you're feeling burnt out in whatever you do,
and I know last time I was on your podcast,
I actually had a lot of nurses message me
or girls that were in nursing school.
So if you're a nurse, even if you're not a nurse,
but if you're a nurse and you're feeling burnt out,
like that feeling, I want you to feel validated in that
because the nursing culture is very like,
it can be very competitive
and it can be very seniority driven.
And I remember a lot of the senior nurses telling me,
they're like, oh, I'm the only one left of my new grad class.
No one could handle it.
And just making it feel like only real nurses
work in hospitals, which is like the dumbest thing ever.
If you're a registered nurse and you're a nurse,
you know, no job makes you more or less of a nurse.
You did the school and that was the hardest part.
But that was what I was stuck in.
And truly, like even now I still struggle with, you know,
am I a real nurse?
Like, did I do enough because I did get burnt out
after six months?
Like, does that mean I'm weak?
And talking with Amy, the guest we had on,
she was like, no, like that's everyone right now.
And even if it wasn't everyone
and that's just what you're dealing with,
like that is what your body,
that's all that your body can handle
and you gave it your all and that's, you know,
that's good enough.
So that's what I was gonna say on burnout
is I feel like it's such like a,
at least for me because I'm like, I'm not a quitter.
I'm gonna do this.
I'm gonna push through.
I'm gonna get better and stick it out.
But it literally, like for me leaving the hospital,
I ended up getting COVID not from working,
which was hysterical.
I got it from visiting my husband on set.
Which I was like, it's funny.
But I ended up getting so sick.
I was out of work for two months.
I was like fully on, like I had to go on disability,
like crazy.
But I think that was God kind of like giving me a little one,
two and was like, you need to sit your booty down
and like reassess what you got going on.
Cause he knew I wasn't, I would never,
I would be like, okay, I'll go part-time instead of full-time.
Like I would have never like backed away from it
because I, you know, maybe that's like my pride in me
that I did not want to let that go.
And it literally took me not even being able
to like do the laundry at home.
I was so dead for like two months to like be like,
okay, I think I don't think I can go back.
Like I think this is God telling me like,
he knew I wasn't strong enough to do it in person.
So he's giving me this out to be like, okay.
But that was like the point that I had to get to,
to realize it because I would not let my mind
accept the fact that I was burnt out
because it had been like so short of time.
I worked for a year and you know,
six months of that was COVID.
And I was like, that's nothing.
Like, what is that?
So if anyone's listening, that was a long story,
but if anyone's listening and you're feeling burnt out,
it's valid and it's better to catch it
if you think you're getting burnt out earlier than later,
because I feel like a lot of what I suffered from was because
I let my burnout go. I worked for past my point of burnout.
Yes.
And I mean, I remember I got to a point where like even like six, let's see, this was probably
like six months after I had officially left the hospital.
We were in New York, it was my first time in New York.
And I was like, I think this was like beginning of 2022.
I was like super excited because it was my first time there.
And my husband was doing press for a movie.
And I was like my first time seeing all of this stuff.
You know, he's doing talk shows and all this stuff and we had friends with us and
we were out to dinner one night with our friends and we're all like sitting there
at this really cool place and like living like my dream of like what like I
thought was my dream of like New York and wanting to be there with friends,
cool restaurant and we're sitting there. And I'm looking at my friends
and they're all talking and laughing.
And I'm like, I'm laughing,
but I actually don't feel anything right now.
I feel so numb.
I don't really know what's going on.
And Taylor looked at me and he was like, what's wrong?
And I was like, I don't know.
I was like, I don't feel happy.
He was like, what do you mean?
And he like almost kind of like was offended.
He was like, wait, what's wrong?
Cause he like, this was way before we even like figured out
I was struggling with something.
And I was like, I don't know.
I just like, I feel really numb.
And like, that was kind of the first time I like fully got
to see and acknowledge cause I wouldn't accept the fact
that I was burnt out and that I was so far gone
that it was to that point where it took me being in
a cool city, great restaurant with all my friends.
It took me being in a scenario that was so 180
from my normal life to be like, okay, there actually is like, I am burnt out
and there is like something very, very wrong.
I am so, no, I'm literally so glad you said that
because I don't like, will expand more on like my situation
because that was so, so helpful.
And it's just so like what you shared about
the nursing situation, like I actually have a really close friend, one of my best
friends who's a nurse, and she experiences a lot of what you just said. But what's crazy
is I feel like I can relate to that in so many ways on just the level of we compare
ourselves to what other people have experienced or how long they work. And we're like, well,
we shouldn't be burnt out or we shouldn't, we got to rally, we got to go. And that's
exactly what I was doing.
Cause I remember, so like after I had honey,
what happened was I like was in my last, you know,
trimester and I was writing my book
and I was finishing my book.
And then I have honey,
but I ended up having to like rewrite half the book.
And anyone who's ever written a book like knows it happens.
Like your edits get back and there's like so
Many things to do and I was like well I have to do it because I'm writing this book
So I like did that literally like right after I had her like I was holding her like figuring out how to be a mom
Also had a really traumatic birthing experience. I'm trying to finish this book
Meanwhile, we had our first like big conference coming up two months after that
So like and then the person who was supposed to be running on our team told me she's leaving Meanwhile, we had our first big conference coming up two months after that.
And then the person who was supposed to be running on our team told me she's leaving.
So then I was in charge of all of that.
So then all of a sudden, I have like triple the work that I was supposed to have in the
season of becoming a mom.
So no maternity leave, hit the ground running.
And I remember just of course like you know
being super anxious and like having all these things, which is feeling I have to
just get it done. And then after I finished everything, like the book's out,
like the book's coming out, or the book was finished, it was in process, the
conference went well, and then that's when like I really started struggling.
Well it was actually in a same scenario where I was in kind of like a dream
setting, like I was on this retreat with all these speakers
that I was like really excited about getting to hang out with and talk to you.
And I remember thinking like I cannot be burnt out because like they've done this
for 30, 40 years and I've always wanted to do that. Like I want to be able to do
that. I want to go the long haul.. I want to have the longevity. There's no way I'm 23, 24 years old and burnt out. I was embarrassed by that.
I remember Christian saying, well, you should talk to them about it. You should talk to someone
about it. I remember saying to him, what, do you think I'm going to tell Christine Kane that I feel
burnt out? She will laugh at me at my face and be like, you're burnt out, like, which she wouldn't.
But in my mind, I was like, no way,
I'm telling someone like Christine Kane.
They're like, I feel burnt out and like help me
because I feel anxious reading my Bible.
Like I felt so weak and I felt like that was so embarrassing.
And then I was just trying to push through.
So then we get there and Jenny Allen,
who is a speaker and a writer was there
and I'm sitting on the bench with her
and I just was like, yeah, kind of same thing.
Met with like, here I am in Jackson Hole,
like this beautiful place with like all these people
that I respect and look up to.
And like, I'm struggling, you know?
And I'm a new mom and I'm just like,
it's my first time leaving honey and I was just
like, oh my gosh.
And it just kind of hit me and I told Jenny, I was like, have you ever felt anxious reading
your Bible?
That's how I opened it up.
And she was like, yes.
And then she started like telling me about like seasons she's been through and then I
like really opened up and she said, Sadie like, this is what burnout is.
And she said, but hey, she said,
I've been there three times in my life
and I'm still doing what I'm doing and I'm thriving
and like, but it happens.
And she's the one that told me about the life coach.
And so I went to the same person.
But anyways, it was like just so helpful
because it was like one of the people
who I would have been like, I'm never gonna say it to her
because there's no way she's experienced this
because she's gone the long haul.
And yet she's like, I've experienced this three times
and like you have to stop and you have to like work
through that and do what you need to do.
And it was so cool because I shifted so many things
the next year, like I took major steps back.
I got off social media for like seven months,
like just did what I needed to do.
When I had Haven, I had a full maternity leave,
like just did it just better.
Like just practically did my life better,
got reorganized, reprioritized.
And I can confidently say like now I'm busier
than maybe I've even ever been,
but I don't feel stressed.
I don't feel the anxiousness.
I don't feel the feeling of burnout. I feel so excited and so
passionate about what I'm doing. Now I'm not naive to think that that can't
happen another time in my life, absolutely, but I'm so like, you know, I'm
so ahead of the game now where I'm like, I don't want to get to that place so I'm
not gonna fill my life and the things I know is gonna leave me there. But yeah, I
think that it's that so, you you know you just kind of have to come
to reality with what your real reality is like because sometimes it's like oh
yeah well like I'm in New York I'm having fun everyone's laughing I'm
laughing but if like the reality inside is not matching the reality on the
outside then like you got to come face to face and confront that and get right
with what you need to get right. So I'm so glad you shared more about your burnout
because that took me back to like, yeah, kind of same.
And it's amazing that all the people that go the long haul,
they experienced it too in different seasons
and they had to work it out one time or another as well.
And I think one reason why too,
I'll say last thing on burnout,
that I was afraid about admitting burnout is because I think that a lot of young people do use that term falsely
and wrongly.
It's like, oh, well, I'm busy, I'm burnt out.
And it's not just like when you're busy, you're burnt out.
Like I said, I'm probably busier than I've ever been right now and I'm not burnt out.
But there are situations that you go through like traumatic times or times where like things
are totally off balance
or something is just not right.
And that is just a more extreme thing than just being busy.
So just wanna make sure that we define
it's not just being busy.
Yeah.
One thing you talked about was feeling numb.
And that's actually a question that people had
is how do you keep from staying numb?
And so you kind of mentioned earlier,
like you had these two years where you didn't really feel
like yourself, how do you get out of being numb?
That's a great question.
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Yeah, I will say it was it's not the easiest thing. But once you realize that you are feeling that way,
I feel like it makes it easier.
It makes the journey more not bearable because it wasn't that hard.
But it's a journey, you know?
It's not just like, oh, I'm now, okay,
let me go lay out in the sun for 20 minutes
and then I feel better now.
Like, it's a process.
And it's something that I feel like some days
I would feel totally fine and then other days I'm like,
oh, it's back.
Like, I thought I was over this.
Like, now I'm feeling this way again.
Let's see, for me, I think saying it, talking about it,
I started seeing a therapist a few months after that
because I was also like still really dissociative
and I would do things.
My brain just wouldn't work.
It got to a point where it was scary and that was why I started going to therapy.
I think maybe my mom had gone to therapy before, but it wasn't a talked about thing.
My husband didn't do it.
No one in his family had done it.
It wasn't a resource that was really thought about for us.
But I would do these things where I would forget information that I knew.
I knew that I knew the answer to whatever the question was,
but I couldn't find the answer in my head.
And the story I tell is the one that was kind of like the straw that broke the camel's back was I was, um, you know, my husband and I were texting
and he was like, do you want to go to Pocaccio's for dinner? And this is like a restaurant that's
like out by us. And you know, I drive by it all the time and he said it. And I was like,
I know that I've been there like multiple times, but I can't remember
like where it is, who I've been with, what kind of food it is, like anything. I couldn't remember
anything. And I was literally like sitting there for like 10 minutes, like trying to remember.
And like that may sound silly, but like it was random things like that. Like I forgot the chain
smokers who are like the EDM band. I was like, what's the, what's the people that make the EDM music? It's the two guys and Taylor's like the chain smokers. I was
like, yeah, like I, it was things that I would know, but I couldn't remember. Like I would
look at a banana and be like, what is this called? I know what it is, but I can't remember
like things like that. And so that was what tipped me over. And I was like, okay, I gotta
go like see someone because I got to talk about this and feel this out.
So I think if you can talk to someone, whether it be a therapist, a counselor,
a school counselor, if you're in school still, I feel like that was very underutilized
for me and a lot of my friends in high school, because mental health wasn't really a thing,
but now that it is a thing and that is available for people,
go see a counselor.
Even like a friend, a parent, a teacher, a coach,
someone that you feel like you can say something to
and feel safe enough to say,
hey, I'm kind of like struggling a little bit with this.
And just taking the steps forward to
be intentional about getting back to normal life.
And by that, I don't mean just push it down
and go throughout your day.
I mean, be intentional of the conversations you have,
the food you eat, just sitting down and be like,
I'm gonna go, I'm gonna get up
and I'm gonna go make myself breakfast.
And being intentional with that,
because I feel like putting intention behind things
and not just going through the motions and feeling mundane
can really make things feel still numb.
But being intentional, like,
I'm gonna go do something good for my mental health.
I'm gonna go outside and walk for 20 minutes.
I'm gonna go, you know, do this breathing technique,
go take a workout class, go do yoga,
go see my therapist, whatever it is,
start incorporating those intentional things.
And I think just doing all of that and going to therapy was really what kind
of helped get me out of it. And honestly being, I saw Eamonn too and Dr. Eamonn after the brain scan
and I'm finding out that I had like severe PTSD from working. And that made me feel a lot better
for some reason.
Like my husband was so scared he was gonna find something
out and it was gonna be like terrifying.
His brain ended up being totally fine
and mine was way worse, which we still laugh about.
But I used that as like, okay, I'm validated right now
and now I'm gonna take these steps to like move forward.
I'm not gonna sit and oh my gosh, I have depression
and I have PTSD and don't get me wrong,
I definitely still have days where I'm like, oof,
I feel rough, but I don't, I haven't let that define me.
And I'm like, okay, if that's, you know,
if I have a cold or whatever,
I'm gonna go take these antibiotics to feel better.
It's kind of the same thing.
I have PTSD, I'm gonna go take these antibiotics to feel better. It's kind of the same thing. I have PTSD, I'm gonna go take these steps
to help heal my brain.
So that's kind of the same.
During all of those, I felt numb,
so taking all of those steps, I feel like could be helpful,
even though that's a lot of steps I said,
just pick one, an easy one.
It's so helpful.
That's the same for me.
I just started like, again,
the whole life planner coach thing was really just
to like reprioritize things.
Like, hey, why would help you free up your schedule
a little bit to actually be able to do the things
you feel called to do and do them well.
But like most importantly, be the mom that you need to be,
the wife you need to be and the person that you are, you know?
And it was simple things.
It was like, okay, I reworked my schedule to where I always take Friday off.
And I know this is not, everyone's not able to do that, but you know, look at your schedule.
What can I add?
What can I take away?
Fridays are family days for us.
Every now and then we have the exception, but most every Friday is family day.
And then, you know, I have different things.
Like we pretty much always go on a walk.
Every single night when I get home,
the girls are in the stroller,
me and Christian go on a walk.
We talk about our day.
We play like pickleball or tennis, you know.
We play cards.
Like anytime I'm feeling like,
okay, I just need a brain break.
It's like, okay, add some fun things in.
If you need to hang out with your friends,
invite your friends over.
I mean, it really is just about like prioritizing the things that are valuable in your life
and making sure those are in the right place.
And that can help so much with coming out of that state of being numb or under that
state of burnout.
And again, you know, people say like, oh man, you're like juggling so much, or no, people, we actually were talking about this
the other day, I think this is such a good piece of advice.
Jen Johnson talked about it on the podcast years ago,
which Jen Johnson keeps getting brought up,
but she has good advice.
But basically she said, so shout out to Jen,
basically she was talking about how people would say like,
how do you have balance in your life?
And she said, oh man, I forget balance
and I just learned how to juggle. And I love that piece of advice.
And I always tell people, you know,
you gotta learn how to juggle,
but you also gotta know that sometimes
when you're carrying too many balls,
you just need to put a ball down
and get back in rhythm and learn how to juggle with that.
And then when you have the space and capacity,
you add another ball and then you can pick back up
where you started and you get back in rhythm.
And I think a lot of life looks like that.
And that's where that state of my life was.
I had way too many balls I was trying to juggle
and I was so out of rhythm.
I put a few balls down and I got back in rhythm.
And now I'm able to add a lot back
and I'm able to stay in step
because I'm at the place where I can.
However, again, not naive to the fact that maybe
along the way I might need to put something down again, not naive to the fact that maybe along the way, I might need to put something down again,
re-prioritize or re-strategize or learn a new motion or whatever that looks like.
And that analogy has just really stuck with me.
That's so good. I love that.
I have to say too, like I want to end on this.
You are such a fun person.
Like you're genuinely so much fun.
You're so fun to be around.
You're fun to hang out with.
Like you guys came to conference last year
and it was so fun.
And I was like, oh, we're gonna miss you so much this year
just because your presence is like so joyful, so fun.
I think lemons are like the perfect association for you
because yellow and joy like represent you in my mind,
which I think is really beautiful
because when you tend to talk about like mental illness or something that's so heavy, it can feel like, you
know, just hard and like heavy and you don't think about the other side which
is joy and yellow and beauty but that's so who you are. So can you speak a little
bit just about like the importance of fun in your life and is that something
you're intentional about
or is that just who you really are
and you just are working through the other stuff?
Speak a little bit into that.
Yeah, well, thank you.
That's very sweet.
I definitely tried to, I mean, when I'm around people too,
if it's people that I love and trust,
that's time off for my brain for me.
Like whenever, if we're busy and Taylor's like,
you wanna have our friends over tonight?
I'm like, actually, yeah, I do
because that is like a recharge for me
when it's my friends that,
if I wanna be quiet for an hour, I can,
or if I wanna laugh and be silly, I can.
Yeah, I think that's something
that was my personality growing up. And then as
I've gotten older, I've definitely had to be more intentional with. It's funny because
when I was going through all of this hospital stuff, I feel like I say that I mourned and I actually went through
a grieving process after leaving the hospital of loss
of this career that I thought I was gonna do
forever and ever and I didn't think was gonna end this way.
But also a form of innocence I feel like I lost
during that time and I really had to grieve that. And I remember telling Taylor, I feel like I lost during that time. And I really had to grieve that.
And I remember telling Taylor, I was like,
I just don't like, I was like, I used to be fun and happy.
Like I don't feel like I am anymore.
And I've had to like figure out how to work that back in.
And I know that's who I am when I don't have like
these stressors or these things going on.
So it's kind of a reminder to me that
when I have a lot going on
and Taylor's trying to have a conversation with me
and I'm not even there or I'm not really engaged,
he's like, okay, you need to check in with yourself.
And sometimes I'm like, oh, I haven't laughed today.
What's going on?
Do I need to put one of the balls I'm juggling down
and figure this out?
But it's been a good reminder to me to keep smiling
because I am a happy person.
I always say I'm very painfully optimistic
whenever Taylor has something going on.
I'm like, well, yeah, this person,
they could have meant it like this.
He's like, just for one minute.
I'm like, I'm really bad.
I need to learn to not do that
because that has bitten me in the butt.
But I'm the same way.
Christian's like, don't try to make this better right now.
Just listen to what it is.
I've learned just to like not,
I'll like say one thing and Taylor's like,
now I'm like, okay, I'm just gonna be silent
for the next minute because I know what I'm gonna say
is not gonna be helpful because it's probably not even true.
But anyways, I have always been
just a happy, optimistic person.
And I feel like I lost a little bit of that along my way.
And it's almost been an indicator for me
to when I am stressed or when I have a lot going on,
I'm like, okay, have I laughed today?
Have I smiled?
Have I done something to like make me feel good?
Or even just like, you know, talking to people,
like things like this, like this is something that,
you know, some days if I do have a lot going on,
like, yeah, you know, it's tiring,
but getting to talk about mental health
and getting to like have these conversations with people
is something that just truly brings me joy.
And that's how I know that I'm doing
what God intended me to do with my life,
is yes, it's tiring and yes, it's a lot of work.
Mental health conversations aren't easy,
but he's given me these eyes to see joy in it somehow,
because a lot of people don't.
And it's been one of the things I'm most grateful for.
And I'm so, so, so thankful that he chose me of all people
to be doing this with my life.
So I think it comes from a lot of gratefulness too.
It's so cool that I get to impact people
and be a part of that first step of them
trying a breathing technique for the first time,
or, you know, admitting that, you know,
maybe they do need to go see a therapist
or talk to their parent or talk to a friend.
So it's just like an honor that, I mean,
I have chills saying it, like it just,
I'm just so grateful and thankful
that I get to be able to do this every day.
That's so good.
Well, it really is a blessing to the world.
Like I remember the first time I heard about what you're doing, and I'm like,
okay, we've got to shout this out and make sure everybody knows about this resource and who you are just as a person.
Because again, like you said, like, not everybody has that gift.
Not everybody is able to sit in these conversations and at the end of it feel uplifted and like, man, I'm doing what I'm called to do.
Like, joy is like received from having these conversations.
But truly, on the other side of this,
like I can already imagine the messages we're gonna get,
even the letters that we get from this podcast,
from the conversations that we're having.
And that makes me teary.
I actually got a text yesterday from David Platt,
who's a pastor, and it was a girl getting baptized.
And he said, she came up and said she learned about Jesus through your podcast. And since then, dove into church, got baptized, like
her whole life has changed. And that's just like the coolest thing to me ever. And to
know that what you're doing and the way that you speak into people, you know, it might
be as simple as starting with a breathing technique or opening up to a friend, but the
freedom that that can unlock
in people's life.
And then especially leading people to the Lord who can really heal them and restore
them and give them the true purpose and identity that they were created in.
I think it's so interesting you said that, like, I used to be funny.
I think so many of us could say that.
You go back to childhood when things are simple and you go, yeah, it used to be that.
It used to not struggle with this.
And I think God has made each of us original.
He knit us together in our mother's womb.
He has a purpose for us.
And along the way, life happens.
The world gets tough.
But I do believe that you can refine that originality
and that fullness and that freedom back
and who Christ is.
I think that's where even baptism comes into play. refine that originality and that fullness and that freedom back and who Christ is, you know?
I think that's where even baptism comes into play. Like you bury the old self and you come alive,
you're a new creation in Christ, which is why like verses like,
my peace I give you, like my peace I leave you, or cast your burdens on me.
Like I get, like we get to identify with Christ.
So we get to identify with His peace, with His joy, with His freedom, with
His love, and the pressure is off you. Like it's the most beautiful thing in the world. And so,
yes, I can, I relate to that to you. I remember feeling like for a time, like I used to be funny,
I used to be fun. Like how do I find my funny again? And I would like just start doing TikTok
dances or something just because I'm like, that's me when I'm having fun, you know?
So getting back to just the silliness and the goofiness
of your child's self is like so beautiful.
But Tay, you're the perfect person for us to dive
into these DMs with.
Thank you for shining the light that you shine.
Thank you for all the things that you do,
but most importantly, who you are.
And thanks for being a good friend to me
and coming back on the podcast and having this conversation.
It was so good.
Oh my gosh, I'm so honored, truly, anytime.
I just, I love everything that you do
and I'm just honored to have you as a friend.
And every time I walk into Air One
and I see that little chia seed yogurt thing,
I think of you and I think of Steph, so it's awesome.
I just adore you.
Well, we gotta get back there and get some Air 1
because we miss you guys and Air 1.
Yeah.