Dawn Taylor| 25/03/2024

Transcript

Dawn Taylor

I'm your host, Dawn Taylor. And today we are talking to the amazing, fabulous, wonderful me. No, seriously though, we are talking to me today. Jenny is going to be taking over and putting me in the hot seat because something really, really massive has gone down in my personal world over the last few months that I have overcome. And if you've read my book, you may have read a line that said, "P.S. you might want to talk to a therapist about this." And yeah, some big things have gone down. And when Jenny and I were in a meeting one day, she's like, "You know what? We really need to share this with your podcast world." So, I hope you love this episode. I hope that you feel a little bit inspired from it. And yeah, we're going to let Jenny take over. For those of you who don't know, she is the CEO of the Taylor Way and more importantly, she's one of my really good friends. So take it away, Jenny. 

Jenny Ryce

Hey everybody. Thanks for showing up. And Dawn, as always, for letting me steal your seat in the Taylor Way Talks podcast world. 

Dawn Taylor

Oh. You're welcome. Maybe? 

Jenny Ryce

I know you might regret it.

Dawn Taylor

 I was like, Will I regret this decision? You just don't know. 

Jenny Ryce

You just don't know where we might go down the rabbit hole. 

Dawn Taylor

Pretty much. 

Jenny Ryce

Thank you guys, everyone, for showing up and and taking the time to listen to us today. Dawn and I were talking about something that was really, um. really fascinating. We were digging into the topic of fears. Right? And how do we face our fears? Because regardless if they seem rational or not to other people, when when we are anchored in our own fears, there's no talking through it. There's no, you know, zero logic. And, uh, Dawn and I were blessed. She took me on a really fun, uh, retreat getaway for for, I think, what were we on 10 or 12 days or something? 

Dawn Taylor

Oh, yeah. It was a full 12 days. 

Jenny Ryce

Yeah. Fun. So we road tripped in Texas, and then we were really blessed to get on a cruise and go to some really beautiful places with palm trees and and ocean, right. When you're on a cruise ship, you're on the ocean. And we're going to dig into why that's important in a minute. But one thing I wanted to ask you, Dawn, before we got into it, I want to talk about fear itself, just so that the listeners and people that might be sharing this, this conversation with other people. I want to get clear on the definition of how you see fear, so that everybody's going to see it differently and understand it. So when we talk about facing fears, what does facing your fears mean to you? 

Dawn Taylor

So, our bodies are wired for protection, right? So they will not let us totally feel unsafe. And I say this often in talks is like there's a reason why we can't hold our breath to die. It's 

because your body will do anything to protect you and protection mechanisms. So, typically fears show up when something happens, right. So, for this conversation, when I was playing in the creek, in this creek and going over these waterfalls and a half empty air mattress when I was 12 and smashed my head at the bottom on the rock and went under and wasn't coming back out, and someone had to jump in and rescue me, right? Brought on this massive fear of water and having my face under the water. My husband playing a practical joke on me. We were dating in high school by filling the bottom of a backpack with snakes and asking me to grab a pen created this massive mess. That one's a big one. I'm still working on that one, but a massive fear of snakes for me. Right? Having a dog chase you or whatever. Right? Like fears come from a time in our life where something in us was really, really jarred. And then we attach a story of everything that will happen after it. Right? So it's like every time I go into the water, I'm going to feel like I'm drowning. This is now the new belief. This is the fear and the acronym "Future Events Appearing Real." Right, where it's like this is a fear of what could potentially happen. But my brain is convinced because it appears that it's actually real. 

Jenny Ryce

Can you do that acronym again in case people didn't actually catch that? Can you just, like, I want that to be hammered in like hard.

Dawn Taylor

Future Events Appearing Real. So, not just like an idea that it might be real, like it's actually appearing, that it's real. You are fully believing that it's going to be real, even though it's a future event that hasn't even happened yet. 

Jenny Ryce

Right, so future event we're in the we we you know we're going to dig in the past today because we're not doing it as we speak. But before we were going on this trip, you had expressed especially this fear around water. I mean, you tackled a bunch of fears. Let's be honest, on this trip that we were together. 

Dawn Taylor

Oh, I totally did. 

Jenny Ryce

I, you know, I mean, I would love to think it was all me and hanging out with me, but let's be real. That's not the truth. I might have been a really good wingman for this, but the bottom line is when you're tackling fears, a lot of it comes from your own internal strength and resilience. So when we were talking about going on this trip, I'd love for you to share. And if only share what you're comfortable with, some of the reservations you are having about maybe some of the the excursions that I was curious and excited to to try. And it opened up this dialogue. Would you mind sharing with our listeners what that was? 

Dawn Taylor

Oh for sure. And, you know, I'll say anything. So, backtrack a little bit. The drowning thing when I was 12. So, I fully went in, I fully went under. And one of the hardest parts to admit about it was that I remember very distinctly not wanting to fight for myself. So, if you know anything about my past or if you've read my book, "P.S. I Made It." There is a chapter. There's fun. I mean, if you've read it, you understand that I had a really insane life, but I remember not wanting to fight for myself and thinking, this is my out. Like it's time I get to go now. And so that in and of itself was really, really hard. But it also attached that meaning to now, water, ever. And so from then on, I didn't plan leaks in the same way. I didn't plan rivers in the same way. I refused to go in the ocean. If I did go in the ocean, it was very, very shallow. I was not getting my face wet. I might be the only person I know that's done. Things like gone to Laguna Beach and never stepped foot in the water in two weeks, right? Just wouldn't do it. Put me in a pool, I'm fine. But even then I did like, lane swim with a paddle board so that I wouldn't have to put my face in the water. I've even gone as far as to like. I struggle in the shower, getting my face wet. And it makes me feel panicky immediately. So a couple years ago, and in order to see these, you're going to have to ask for them. But we will put some in the show notes on my website, TheTaylorWay.ca - few years ago, I did a photo shoot while trying to overcome my fear of water and forcing myself to sit in the fear of it. And Jenny, you've seen them there. They are jarring. They are jarring photos. So that's the one warning, if you go look at them. But.  I wanted to see what that looked like for myself, and to also have them to share with someone else if they ever needed to see them. So I put myself in a bathtub and forced myself to go under the water and hold it past the point of comfort and allow myself to face that in and the biggest thing was allow myself to face it and acknowledge if that feeling of not wanting to come back up showed up. Right? Because I think that, no, it's not even a nice thing. I know that behind the scenes, that was the big piece of it was, would I still have that feel? Would I still, at this point in my life, having healed so much and gotten where I am and build who I am, would I still have that moment of my head under the water thinking I could just not come back up? And how would I deal with that? And it's no different. I've talked before my social media on here and stuff about how, you know, if I get really, really, really sick and all of a sudden I can't eat for a long time, this little like wiggle in the back of my brain is like, "but you could just stop eating?" Right. And I always tell clients it's like, it's not about if that voice is going to come up or not. That's not even part of being healed. It's what you do with it that matters. So I had done this and faced this so that I could now put my head underwater. I could actually do that. And in January, I went on a trip with my husband and my nephew, and I actually swam in the ocean for the very first time in my life, fully swam, put my head under the water, got smashed by waves, everything else. But, there were still more fears around it. So when you and I started talking about this trip, all of a sudden it's like, let's go on a tandem bike ride through the jungle, let's go snorkeling. Let's go hold sloths and animals. You were asking me to do all these crazy things, paddleboarding, right? All of these crazy things, and I panicked. I really, genuinely panicked, right? It was like, I can't do those things, right. It's so many biases, so many biases that I even had on myself. If, like, I can't ride a bike through the jungle because there's no way I could do that and that that wouldn't even be a thing. And I'm too fat and I have bad knees and I, like, right to the same with paddle boarding. But I mean, that had its own like attachment to the ocean, peace in the water and everything else to snorkeling, because that's literally like face under the water for a really long, extended period of time. And when you and I first started talking about it, I know I explained some of this to you and like my fears, but I'm also a big believer that your fear is a fear because you're refusing to face it. And as long as I don't face them, it gives them power. 1s And I don't want anybody or anything to have power over me. Right? So part of my working on my snake fear, I used to not even be able to see a photo of a snake at all and where I'd panic. And I've actually been watching Survivor because there's snakes shown slithering like nonstop through the entire episode, and I'm forcing myself to watch it and pause it and look at them and be okay with that and feel through those feelings in my body. But I also did things like went to Utah and hiked a trail that is known to have rattlesnakes, and they give you a big talk before you walk it for safety. And I not only walked it, but I did it twice. To face that fear, right? Was it easy? No. Was I like, the entire time? Yes, but. But it was still facing it. And I think that's why I said yes to all of the random things that you wanted to do on this trip that terrified me. Because the more of my fears that I face. The less external things have power over me and control over me.

Jenny Ryce

I love that because it's true? Right. It's hard work, but it's true. So you mentioned a few events that occurred on our vacation. So we want to bring some humor into this as well. So I think. I think we're going to go in chronological order, if that's okay with you. 

Dawn Taylor

That's good. 

Jenny Ryce

Um, and you brought up some really valid points, is so we're we we've booked this excursion and we booked it. So like, many entrepreneurs were super busy. We're multitasking, you know, we're doing the things we're trying to get ready. And we booked this one excursion. 

Dawn Taylor

Okay, so for two non-drinkers, we joked our entire trip that we drunk booked our excursions. Okay. Like the things we booked that we never would have had we been thinking more clearly. 

Jenny Ryce 

Well, I'd say we wouldn't necessarily have booked them, but we may have put different ones or may, like - so this is the funny part you guys. We're, we're sitting down in bed, we're getting ready for excursion number one. It's like you know, we're going to wake up in the morning and we're heading out at like eight in the morning. When we get into dock, we're unloading and we're hitting the bus and we're doing the things. So I say to Dawn, can you read and tell us if is there anything we need to pack? Is there anything, is there change rooms because we're going to go. We're going on a trek through the jungle. And that was it. For those of you that don't know what that is, it's basically a natural hole in the ground where water comes in. And these are these beautiful oasis, the natural pool, basically surrounded by beautiful scenery, etc., etc. we're like sold. Didn't even read it. Just book it. Let's go. So, Dawn's reading out loud to me. 1s That she's like, um, we're going on a tandem bike through the jungle, 

Dawn Taylor

So we have to ride. There's no bus. 

Jenny Ryce

Okay, so for those of you, Dawn, you express this, which I, I really valued. What was your initial, I want you just to reiterate that your initial, because this wasn't we didn't decide determine this three weeks ago that we were going to ride this tandem bike. 

Dawn Taylor

There is not a chance in hell that my fat ass, lumpy body is going to get on a tandem bike and be able to ride through the jungle with my bad knees. That was my very initial reaction, and I was like, you're going in the front because I'm going to be in the back of my feet sticking out, and I'm not even going to pedal, and I'm going to die of heat exhaustion in some damn jungle, bike seat up my ass. That was my initial reaction. 

Jenny Ryce

But what I loved is when I said to you, so this is when, you know, we do some of that self-loathing, right? It's like, I'm not capable. I'm physically a certain way. I'm, you know, the all the things I'm like, do you feel strongly enough that we should change this? And you know what I loved? You're like, no. And I said, awesome. Because honestly, if we can bike there, we can walk there. Worst-case scenario is we will get off our damn bike and we will walk it into this location that we're going right. And I had my own fears creeping in. I was like, oh my gosh, when was the last time - I've never been on a tandem bike. I felt this kind of responsibility to make sure we got to a location and, you know, like, am I going to have the balance? I'm 53 years old. I want to do this, but random, you know, I knew I had the physicality to do it, but I was like, oh my gosh, am I going to get Dawn there? I took on this mantle. That was my job. to get you, like I got very dramatic. My crazy helmet on and so we roll up, you guys to this amazingly random location.

Dawn Taylor

Very authentically, stereotypically poor Mexico. We're going to just put it that way 

Jenny Ryce

To the point where I said to the gentleman, is there a washroom I can use at there where we get our bikes and our helmets? He's like, actually, ma'am, I would wait until we get to the cenote. There's nicer outhouses there for you. I wouldn't use the one here. And I was like, okay, like I'm going to hold it.

Dawn Taylor

But oh my gosh, you guys just have this mental image. Okay. There's what, 16 of us? And in this little tour. We've ridden the bus forever to get out to this area. We're on this property. Beautiful flowers, altars, things, everywhere. It was stunning. And they give us our bikes and our bike helmets. Do we have bike helmets?

Jenny Ryce

We got helmets. Till on the ride home you didn't have yours on. 

Dawn Taylor

Yeah, mine was not on. Right? I look like an absolute doofus. And it wasn't really on my head. Like, had we fallen, I would have actually just died. Um, because I haven't ridden a bike since I was 12, and I'm now almost 44 and we get on our tenant bike and we're like, just going to ride around a little like parking lot area. And it is like the most potholey parking lot you've ever seen in your entire life. Like it is worse than anything. Like that's probably like the worst ride of the entire thing was the parking lot of the road leading up  to the jungle piece. And we get on this tandem bike, not realizing my handlebars. So I'm in the back, my handlebars are broken, and they're attached directly to Jenny's seat. So every time I move my handlebars, her entire seat turns with it. And it's natural that when you want to turn, you're trying to turn your handlebars. And we're on this tandem bike. We were laughing so freaking hard. Other people could hardly ride their bikes because they were laughing at our laughing at ourselves. So, we finally like trade in our bike, get a better one that's not broken, and then we start this ride. And if we didn't die laughing the entire time, it was the - 

Jenny Ryce

I mean, I'm still laughing. My face still hurts. I still have the muscles from, you know, this was a few weeks ago and and what I love to is we're doing this pothole road and, you know, trying to stay on the bike and balance. And, you know, the best part is, is when we rolled up to this place, we made the commitment that we were going to just be present.

Dawn Taylor

100% all in. 

Jenny Ryce

And then whatever happens from, you know, whether we get scrapes and bumps, whether we bail, whether we walk, whatever it is we're going to, we're going to take this on and we're and I'm, I'm pedaling. I'm like "Pothole!" 

Dawn Taylor

It's like, it was like a comedy routine. That was absolutely hilarious. 

Jenny Ryce

But of course, we didn't realize, again, we're talking third world country experience to a degree. Right? Our handlebars. So at this point this is the better bike and we're in the bike doing the things down the path. And we realize the handlebars actually aren't secure. The front steering, 

Dawn Taylor

Oh no, they're not secure. 

Jenny Ryce

Like pivoting back and forth. So, anyway, the cool part was, is not only do we survive it. When I looked at you and I said, "So who's leading the way home?" And you're like, "I'm in!"

Dawn Taylor

Oh, yeah, we fully did, we fully did. 

Jenny Ryce

You're like, I'm driving on the way home and. I would love for you to share what it felt like to prove to yourself that when you trust yourself, go for it. What did it feel like? 

Dawn Taylor

You know what I think more than anything, it's not giving a shit what anyone else thinks. 

Right? It was a piece of, it was a split second decision of, what are the judgments of other people that are going to happen if I do this? If we fall, if we screw this up, if our bike breaks down and we're standing on the side of the road, whatever. Whatever it was. And the minute that came up, I was like, "Oh, hell no. I am not going to stop myself from living because of a judgment from somebody else."

Jenny Ryce

Amen. 

Dawn Taylor

And that was the feeling that kind of went through that entire day, because from there we then went to the ocean. And this little area, and we're swimming and we're doing our thing, and I'm in the ocean and we just got run over by boats because we went outside of the area that we were supposed to be in, which was probably really dumb. 

Dawn Taylor

I'm your host, Dawn Taylor. And today we are talking to the amazing, fabulous, wonderful me. No, seriously though, we are talking to me today. Jenny is going to be taking over and putting me in the hot seat because something really, really massive has gone down in my personal world over the last few months that I have overcome. And if you've read my book, you may have read a line that said, "P.S. you might want to talk to a therapist about this." And yeah, some big things have gone down. And when Jenny and I were in a meeting one day, she's like, "You know what? We really need to share this with your podcast world." So, I hope you love this episode. I hope that you feel a little bit inspired from it. And yeah, we're going to let Jenny take over. For those of you who don't know, she is the CEO of the Taylor Way and more importantly, she's one of my really good friends. So take it away, Jenny. 

Jenny Ryce

Hey everybody. Thanks for showing up. And Dawn, as always, for letting me steal your seat in the Taylor Way Talks podcast world. 

Dawn Taylor

Oh. You're welcome. Maybe? 

Jenny Ryce

I know you might regret it.

Dawn Taylor

 I was like, Will I regret this decision? You just don't know. 

Jenny Ryce

You just don't know where we might go down the rabbit hole. 

Dawn Taylor

Pretty much. 

Jenny Ryce

Thank you guys, everyone, for showing up and and taking the time to listen to us today. Dawn and I were talking about something that was really, um. really fascinating. We were digging into the topic of fears. Right? And how do we face our fears? Because regardless if they seem rational or not to other people, when when we are anchored in our own fears, there's no talking through it. There's no, you know, zero logic. And, uh, Dawn and I were blessed. She took me on a really fun, uh, retreat getaway for for, I think, what were we on 10 or 12 days or something? 

Dawn Taylor

Oh, yeah. It was a full 12 days. 

Jenny Ryce

Yeah. Fun. So we road tripped in Texas, and then we were really blessed to get on a cruise and go to some really beautiful places with palm trees and and ocean, right. When you're on a cruise ship, you're on the ocean. And we're going to dig into why that's important in a minute. But one thing I wanted to ask you, Dawn, before we got into it, I want to talk about fear itself, just so that the listeners and people that might be sharing this, this conversation with other people. I want to get clear on the definition of how you see fear, so that everybody's going to see it differently and understand it. So when we talk about facing fears, what does facing your fears mean to you? 

Dawn Taylor

So, our bodies are wired for protection, right? So they will not let us totally feel unsafe. And I say this often in talks is like there's a reason why we can't hold our breath to die. It's 

because your body will do anything to protect you and protection mechanisms. So, typically fears show up when something happens, right. So, for this conversation, when I was playing in the creek, in this creek and going over these waterfalls and a half empty air mattress when I was 12 and smashed my head at the bottom on the rock and went under and wasn't coming back out, and someone had to jump in and rescue me, right? Brought on this massive fear of water and having my face under the water. My husband playing a practical joke on me. We were dating in high school by filling the bottom of a backpack with snakes and asking me to grab a pen created this massive mess. That one's a big one. I'm still working on that one, but a massive fear of snakes for me. Right? Having a dog chase you or whatever. Right? Like fears come from a time in our life where something in us was really, really jarred. And then we attach a story of everything that will happen after it. Right? So it's like every time I go into the water, I'm going to feel like I'm drowning. This is now the new belief. This is the fear and the acronym "Future Events Appearing Real." Right, where it's like this is a fear of what could potentially happen. But my brain is convinced because it appears that it's actually real. 

Jenny Ryce

Can you do that acronym again in case people didn't actually catch that? Can you just, like, I want that to be hammered in like hard.

Dawn Taylor

Future Events Appearing Real. So, not just like an idea that it might be real, like it's actually appearing, that it's real. You are fully believing that it's going to be real, even though it's a future event that hasn't even happened yet. 

Jenny Ryce

Right, so future event we're in the we we you know we're going to dig in the past today because we're not doing it as we speak. But before we were going on this trip, you had expressed especially this fear around water. I mean, you tackled a bunch of fears. Let's be honest, on this trip that we were together. 

Dawn Taylor

Oh, I totally did. 

Jenny Ryce

I, you know, I mean, I would love to think it was all me and hanging out with me, but let's be real. That's not the truth. I might have been a really good wingman for this, but the bottom line is when you're tackling fears, a lot of it comes from your own internal strength and resilience. So when we were talking about going on this trip, I'd love for you to share. And if only share what you're comfortable with, some of the reservations you are having about maybe some of the the excursions that I was curious and excited to to try. And it opened up this dialogue. Would you mind sharing with our listeners what that was? 

Dawn Taylor

Oh for sure. And, you know, I'll say anything. So, backtrack a little bit. The drowning thing when I was 12. So, I fully went in, I fully went under. And one of the hardest parts to admit about it was that I remember very distinctly not wanting to fight for myself. So, if you know anything about my past or if you've read my book, "P.S. I Made It." There is a chapter. There's fun. I mean, if you've read it, you understand that I had a really insane life, but I remember not wanting to fight for myself and thinking, this is my out. Like it's time I get to go now. And so that in and of itself was really, really hard. But it also attached that meaning to now, water, ever. And so from then on, I didn't plan leaks in the same way. I didn't plan rivers in the same way. I refused to go in the ocean. If I did go in the ocean, it was very, very shallow. I was not getting my face wet. I might be the only person I know that's done. Things like gone to Laguna Beach and never stepped foot in the water in two weeks, right? Just wouldn't do it. Put me in a pool, I'm fine. But even then I did like, lane swim with a paddle board so that I wouldn't have to put my face in the water. I've even gone as far as to like. I struggle in the shower, getting my face wet. And it makes me feel panicky immediately. So a couple years ago, and in order to see these, you're going to have to ask for them. But we will put some in the show notes on my website, TheTaylorWay.ca - few years ago, I did a photo shoot while trying to overcome my fear of water and forcing myself to sit in the fear of it. And Jenny, you've seen them there. They are jarring. They are jarring photos. So that's the one warning, if you go look at them. But.  I wanted to see what that looked like for myself, and to also have them to share with someone else if they ever needed to see them. So I put myself in a bathtub and forced myself to go under the water and hold it past the point of comfort and allow myself to face that in and the biggest thing was allow myself to face it and acknowledge if that feeling of not wanting to come back up showed up. Right? Because I think that, no, it's not even a nice thing. I know that behind the scenes, that was the big piece of it was, would I still have that feel? Would I still, at this point in my life, having healed so much and gotten where I am and build who I am, would I still have that moment of my head under the water thinking I could just not come back up? And how would I deal with that? And it's no different. I've talked before my social media on here and stuff about how, you know, if I get really, really, really sick and all of a sudden I can't eat for a long time, this little like wiggle in the back of my brain is like, "but you could just stop eating?" Right. And I always tell clients it's like, it's not about if that voice is going to come up or not. That's not even part of being healed. It's what you do with it that matters. So I had done this and faced this so that I could now put my head underwater. I could actually do that. And in January, I went on a trip with my husband and my nephew, and I actually swam in the ocean for the very first time in my life, fully swam, put my head under the water, got smashed by waves, everything else. But, there were still more fears around it. So when you and I started talking about this trip, all of a sudden it's like, let's go on a tandem bike ride through the jungle, let's go snorkeling. Let's go hold sloths and animals. You were asking me to do all these crazy things, paddleboarding, right? All of these crazy things, and I panicked. I really, genuinely panicked, right? It was like, I can't do those things, right. It's so many biases, so many biases that I even had on myself. If, like, I can't ride a bike through the jungle because there's no way I could do that and that that wouldn't even be a thing. And I'm too fat and I have bad knees and I, like, right to the same with paddle boarding. But I mean, that had its own like attachment to the ocean, peace in the water and everything else to snorkeling, because that's literally like face under the water for a really long, extended period of time. And when you and I first started talking about it, I know I explained some of this to you and like my fears, but I'm also a big believer that your fear is a fear because you're refusing to face it. And as long as I don't face them, it gives them power. 1s And I don't want anybody or anything to have power over me. Right? So part of my working on my snake fear, I used to not even be able to see a photo of a snake at all and where I'd panic. And I've actually been watching Survivor because there's snakes shown slithering like nonstop through the entire episode, and I'm forcing myself to watch it and pause it and look at them and be okay with that and feel through those feelings in my body. But I also did things like went to Utah and hiked a trail that is known to have rattlesnakes, and they give you a big talk before you walk it for safety. And I not only walked it, but I did it twice. To face that fear, right? Was it easy? No. Was I like, the entire time? Yes, but. But it was still facing it. And I think that's why I said yes to all of the random things that you wanted to do on this trip that terrified me. Because the more of my fears that I face. The less external things have power over me and control over me.

Jenny Ryce

I love that because it's true? Right. It's hard work, but it's true. So you mentioned a few events that occurred on our vacation. So we want to bring some humor into this as well. So I think. I think we're going to go in chronological order, if that's okay with you. 

Dawn Taylor

That's good. 

Jenny Ryce

Um, and you brought up some really valid points, is so we're we we've booked this excursion and we booked it. So like, many entrepreneurs were super busy. We're multitasking, you know, we're doing the things we're trying to get ready. And we booked this one excursion. 

Dawn Taylor

Okay, so for two non-drinkers, we joked our entire trip that we drunk booked our excursions. Okay. Like the things we booked that we never would have had we been thinking more clearly. 

Jenny Ryce 

Well, I'd say we wouldn't necessarily have booked them, but we may have put different ones or may, like - so this is the funny part you guys. We're, we're sitting down in bed, we're getting ready for excursion number one. It's like you know, we're going to wake up in the morning and we're heading out at like eight in the morning. When we get into dock, we're unloading and we're hitting the bus and we're doing the things. So I say to Dawn, can you read and tell us if is there anything we need to pack? Is there anything, is there change rooms because we're going to go. We're going on a trek through the jungle. And that was it. For those of you that don't know what that is, it's basically a natural hole in the ground where water comes in. And these are these beautiful oasis, the natural pool, basically surrounded by beautiful scenery, etc., etc. we're like sold. Didn't even read it. Just book it. Let's go. So, Dawn's reading out loud to me. 1s That she's like, um, we're going on a tandem bike through the jungle, 

Dawn Taylor

So we have to ride. There's no bus. 

Jenny Ryce

Okay, so for those of you, Dawn, you express this, which I, I really valued. What was your initial, I want you just to reiterate that your initial, because this wasn't we didn't decide determine this three weeks ago that we were going to ride this tandem bike. 

Dawn Taylor

There is not a chance in hell that my fat ass, lumpy body is going to get on a tandem bike and be able to ride through the jungle with my bad knees. That was my very initial reaction, and I was like, you're going in the front because I'm going to be in the back of my feet sticking out, and I'm not even going to pedal, and I'm going to die of heat exhaustion in some damn jungle, bike seat up my ass. That was my initial reaction. 

Jenny Ryce

But what I loved is when I said to you, so this is when, you know, we do some of that self-loathing, right? It's like, I'm not capable. I'm physically a certain way. I'm, you know, the all the things I'm like, do you feel strongly enough that we should change this? And you know what I loved? You're like, no. And I said, awesome. Because honestly, if we can bike there, we can walk there. Worst-case scenario is we will get off our damn bike and we will walk it into this location that we're going right. And I had my own fears creeping in. I was like, oh my gosh, when was the last time - I've never been on a tandem bike. I felt this kind of responsibility to make sure we got to a location and, you know, like, am I going to have the balance? I'm 53 years old. I want to do this, but random, you know, I knew I had the physicality to do it, but I was like, oh my gosh, am I going to get Dawn there? I took on this mantle. That was my job. to get you, like I got very dramatic. My crazy helmet on and so we roll up, you guys to this amazingly random location.

Dawn Taylor

Very authentically, stereotypically poor Mexico. We're going to just put it that way 

Jenny Ryce

To the point where I said to the gentleman, is there a washroom I can use at there where we get our bikes and our helmets? He's like, actually, ma'am, I would wait until we get to the cenote. There's nicer outhouses there for you. I wouldn't use the one here. And I was like, okay, like I'm going to hold it.

Dawn Taylor

But oh my gosh, you guys just have this mental image. Okay. There's what, 16 of us? And in this little tour. We've ridden the bus forever to get out to this area. We're on this property. Beautiful flowers, altars, things, everywhere. It was stunning. And they give us our bikes and our bike helmets. Do we have bike helmets?

Jenny Ryce

We got helmets. Till on the ride home you didn't have yours on. 

Dawn Taylor

Yeah, mine was not on. Right? I look like an absolute doofus. And it wasn't really on my head. Like, had we fallen, I would have actually just died. Um, because I haven't ridden a bike since I was 12, and I'm now almost 44 and we get on our tenant bike and we're like, just going to ride around a little like parking lot area. And it is like the most potholey parking lot you've ever seen in your entire life. Like it is worse than anything. Like that's probably like the worst ride of the entire thing was the parking lot of the road leading up  to the jungle piece. And we get on this tandem bike, not realizing my handlebars. So I'm in the back, my handlebars are broken, and they're attached directly to Jenny's seat. So every time I move my handlebars, her entire seat turns with it. And it's natural that when you want to turn, you're trying to turn your handlebars. And we're on this tandem bike. We were laughing so freaking hard. Other people could hardly ride their bikes because they were laughing at our laughing at ourselves. So, we finally like trade in our bike, get a better one that's not broken, and then we start this ride. And if we didn't die laughing the entire time, it was the - 

Jenny Ryce

I mean, I'm still laughing. My face still hurts. I still have the muscles from, you know, this was a few weeks ago and and what I love to is we're doing this pothole road and, you know, trying to stay on the bike and balance. And, you know, the best part is, is when we rolled up to this place, we made the commitment that we were going to just be present.

Dawn Taylor

100% all in. 

Jenny Ryce

And then whatever happens from, you know, whether we get scrapes and bumps, whether we bail, whether we walk, whatever it is we're going to, we're going to take this on and we're and I'm, I'm pedaling. I'm like "Pothole!" 

Dawn Taylor

It's like, it was like a comedy routine. That was absolutely hilarious. 

Jenny Ryce

But of course, we didn't realize, again, we're talking third world country experience to a degree. Right? Our handlebars. So at this point this is the better bike and we're in the bike doing the things down the path. And we realize the handlebars actually aren't secure. The front steering, 

Dawn Taylor

Oh no, they're not secure. 

Jenny Ryce

Like pivoting back and forth. So, anyway, the cool part was, is not only do we survive it. When I looked at you and I said, "So who's leading the way home?" And you're like, "I'm in!"

Dawn Taylor

Oh, yeah, we fully did, we fully did. 

Jenny Ryce

You're like, I'm driving on the way home and. I would love for you to share what it felt like to prove to yourself that when you trust yourself, go for it. What did it feel like? 

Dawn Taylor

You know what I think more than anything, it's not giving a shit what anyone else thinks. 

Right? It was a piece of, it was a split second decision of, what are the judgments of other people that are going to happen if I do this? If we fall, if we screw this up, if our bike breaks down and we're standing on the side of the road, whatever. Whatever it was. And the minute that came up, I was like, "Oh, hell no. I am not going to stop myself from living because of a judgment from somebody else."

Jenny Ryce

Amen. 

Dawn Taylor

And that was the feeling that kind of went through that entire day, because from there we then went to the ocean. And this little area, and we're swimming and we're doing our thing, and I'm in the ocean and we just got run over by boats because we went outside of the area that we were supposed to be in, which was probably really dumb. 

Jenny Ryce

Slight little rebels, just saying. 

Dawn Taylor

Oh my gosh, they're like, stay within this cordoned area. We're like, I see a hole in the fence, let's swim underneath it. Like, literally we were like breaking out, like we were in jail. It was very funny. But again, when I wanted to paddleboard because this is a massive fear and a judgment I'd put on myself and all these things. And when even the instructors were like, "Hmm, yeah, no." And I was like, "Uh, yeah, actually I am. And watch me go." Right. 

And throughout that entire day. And this was something that was really interesting, is from that excursion to another island that we went to, was it Honduras? In Roatan Island? We did this excursion where we drove like buggies that they called buggies. We drove buggies through the through the jungle again, horrible steering. The thing died every 30 seconds. We had to restart it like, it was an epic shit show. And covered in mud and you couldn't. I've never had mud on my body that you couldn't actually get off. And it dyed your skin. Oh yeah, it was wild. But like, we did that and then we went to, um, this nature preserve, and we held sloths and fed toucans, and I've got a very healthy fear of animals. So that was facing it, another fear. And we did that. And then we went to the ocean. And there were similar people. Some of the same people were on this tour as the previous one. And we saw some of the same people, and they started to comment on how what we were doing was inspiring them to do things. 

Jenny Ryce

Mhm. 

Dawn Taylor

And it was when we got to the ocean at that resort and the water was, the beach was beautiful, but the sand walking in was disgusting. It was like slimy mud that you had to walk through. But there were coral reefs, what, 100 feet out? Yeah. Or so. You had to get to this like slimy, sludgy -

Jenny Ryce

I had Dawn floating so I could push her along.

Dawn Taylor

Because I'm terrified of seaweed. Like petrified of seaweed. Did not face that fear at all. Okay, I didn't face that one. 

Jenny Ryce

You did, because there was a place that you had to put your feet down. 

Dawn Taylor

Oh, I did it. I was not happy, though. We did scream. 

Jenny Ryce

People will come rescue you. 

Dawn Taylor

Yes. And people just kind of figured out that I had to be pushed everywhere. So I am, like, very, very buoyant. And so I kind of stay, we're really high up on water and you could just, like, shove me like a beach ball. 

Jenny Ryce

Dragged her around. 

Dawn Taylor 

You totally did. It was hilarious. You dragged me all over her. shoes on. 

Jenny Ryce

So, let's be clear. I had water shoes on. She's on, and you did not. That is true. It was easier for me to step in the back.

Dawn Taylor 

Oh, okay, guys, this dirt was so gross. Like, it was so disgusting that 99% of people did not ever set foot in that ocean. But we went out and there was this other, there was like a mother-daughter group. They were on the same cruise, and we had seen them around a few times, and they ended up joining us out there, and I decided to face my fear of snorkeling. And we got out there and anything, so because of some of my traumas in the past, anything that's constricting on my face or feels like it's holding me down or there's like any panic, if not breathing or like tightness around my neck had anything causes like sheer terror, panic in me. And so when we put the snorkel mask on because it was the full face one where you don't have to have like the separate piece in your mouth. I thought I was going to die. 

Jenny Ryce

Mhm. 

Dawn Taylor

And I don't even know how to describe the terror. That is probably the only word for it that went through my body in that moment. And I put it on, and I think I yanked it off right away and was like, okay, we're doing this. But here's where I want to challenge people. Yes, it was terrifying, but it did not kill me. 

Jenny Ryce

Mhm. 

Dawn Taylor

It did not kill me. And I say this all the time. I have statistically to date overcome every single hard thing that I've been faced with. Every single day that I thought I would not make it through a day. Every single hard thing that I thought was going to kill me, every single thing that I was like, nope, I'm not strong enough to do. This girl is still here. Which means I have actually overcome all of those things. And so that is this belief that constantly runs in the back of my head is this the thing that's going to take out my average? Because right now I have a 100% success rate. Is this the thing that will actually wreck my average? And if so, what makes this one so much bigger than the other ones,  right? And I refused to have floated that far out through that nasty ass dirt. It was a very entertaining day, to not suck it up and try it. Right? And to not face that terror. And I'm talking like debilitating, body freezing, heart racing. If a medical doctor was there, they probably would have said I was having a panic attack. And I was like, no, fuck it. I put that mask back on and I went. I put my face under the water and I just did it. I just did it. And as my heart's racing and I can hardly breathe and I'm panicking, I was like, "No, stop. Breathe through this. Because no feeling is permanent." Right? Like there's no feeling on this planet that is actually permanent. So this terror can leave too. And so as I just like floated and breathed and then I like went far away from you guys because I was like, if I'm going to have a full blown panic attack, I'm not going to do it right in front of all these people from a cruise ship. But I went and I did it. And then I popped out of the water and I took the mask off, and I looked around, and then I did it again, and I did it again, and I did it again, and I saw a lobster. And then I forced myself to hold my breath and go under the water to get a better view of it, which was not comfortable because I because of the panic at the beginning, I didn't I didn't ever, like adjust the mask to be what it needed to be for my face. There's water coming in like - 

Jenny Ryce

You were borrowing my mask.

Dawn Taylor

Like, nothing about this was setting me up for success other than my sheer stubborn determination. And I came back and I stood up and I went to take the mask off and I couldn't get the clips, so the whole thing just came right off my face. I was like, nope, nope

nope, get this thing off my face. But I don't know if I could have been more proud of myself in that moment. 

Jenny Ryce

I was going to ask, what did that feel like? 

Dawn Taylor

It felt like I had overcome a pain. From when I was 12. Right? That that little, that girl, that young woman, that 12 year old girl that didn't ever believe I could go back into water did something that I have fought so hard for so many years. The amount of times I've signed up for snorkeling and ever gone. The amount of times that I've tried and could not even get my face near the water and I just was like, oh no, I can't. Sorry. Right? And in that moment, I could have made every single excuse in the book, oh, I don't have a mask. And okay, we tried to find me a mask. Like we spent hours driving around, phoning stores, all of these things to try to find a mask prior to so that I could get one fit for my face, that it would work like I was willing to put the money out to face this fear. And we couldn't, like anywhere. We went to more Dick's Sporting Goods stores and you could imagine and just could not find what we needed. And surf stores, like, we went to all the places, but, it was this moment of sheer pride, like, so friggin proud of myself, but then excited to live. And that was really cool. Like the feeling of not just like I faced my massive fear but like I faced my massive fear, so what does this now crack open in the future.?

Jenny Ryce

Well, and that's what I really want to touch on. I do want to get back to our paddleboarding story, but I want to keep going on this train just for right now. What do you feel? You shared a lot of things with me in that moment about what this meant for you. And that's your story to tell. 

Dawn Taylor

Oh, no, you can say it, 

Jenny Ryce

but I want to hear from you. Like what? You felt that cracked open. Because facing our fears, sometimes we think, well, what's the point? Yeah. Like it's way more comfortable to stay in all of this, right? Yeah. So what did it mean? For you to all of a sudden, "Hey, not only can I swim in the ocean, I can put my face under the water and be under the water." Like, what did that crack open for you? And what does that future look like? 

Dawn Taylor

You know, one of the biggest is, my husband and I have very, very different hobbies. And one of our struggles in traveling together is he's a water baby. He just wants to play in the water all the time. He wants to body surf and scuba dive and snorkel and swim. And like the boy, could live in the ocean. And we have had very divided, separated vacations for 24 years of marriage because I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it. And he had made a comment on our previous trips, so we had gone on a birthday trip with our nephew in January. And he had made a comment when I was we were in like in Saint Martin in the ocean. Another cruise. Love cruising, by the way, but on another cruise 

Jenny Ryce

I'll endorse that as well. 

Dawn Taylor

I'm like, I'm like a crazy cruise lady. But he had made a comment. He's like, I might actually enjoy traveling with you now. And not that he hated traveling with me. But it wasn't fun for him. It wasn't enjoyable because he wanted to go do these things and have these adventures and do these excursions and live. And I was too busy letting the fear kill me on the beach.

Jenny Ryce

Mhm. 

Dawn Taylor

Right? And all of a sudden it was like, hey, wait, you mean we could actually have fun together? We could have adventures together. We could try these things together. 

And even just that. That was the day. So we had no internet, cell service. Like we didn't have any of that on the cruise. And that was the day that when we got off that beach, I turned on my phone and paid the obscene amount of money per minute to phone my husband in tears and tell him that I had actually snorkeled. And not just once, but twice. And I did it. And I want to do it again. And I'm excited. And that has connected us. And I mean, it's something so silly, but that has connected us and made us so excited for our next trip. 

Jenny Ryce

Which is incredible, you know, because I think about when we were at the cenote which kind of will lead us back to the paddle board story. When we were at the cenote, there was a gentleman with us because he was by himself, because his family, that was not his family. His family couldn't do the bike riding and wasn't interested in going snorkeling or  They had no desire. You could tell he was having fun. And it was lovely because he latched on to us and we got along great. And it was wonderful to, you know, meet somebody new and chat. But it did cross my mind that this, this gentleman would probably enjoy much more being with his significant other or his partner providing, and again, I love and honor that people are willing to still do the things that they love to do and not, you know, force other people to, to participate. Because of course, there's no joy in that either. But to see your face light up when you're like. How did I get those dawdling? It was amazing. Absolutely amazing. And I was I was honored to witness it and to be a part of it. And, I loved it, I loved it. 

Dawn Taylor

I don't think I ever thought I would, if that makes sense. Right? Like, even being able to have a shower and put my face under the water has been such a shift over the last few years. As ridiculous as that might sound. But it's giving myself permission to live. And our fears, our fears are not "Should I wear this?" I always look at it as like, you can fear something once and it's like a little baby fear. And then our brain attaches more meaning to it and more meaning and more meaning and more meaning. And it becomes a bigger story and a bigger story and a bigger story and a bigger story. And it becomes this, like, out of control thing where we are so scared of it. That we will kill part of ourselves to not feel the fear again. We will literally stop living in areas of our lives so that we don't feel that fear again. And to have had so many experiences over these last couple of years of  pushing myself to drive past a certain point, forcing myself to walk with snakes. Forcing myself to go to like, even our local zoo and go into the reptile area and, like, stand there and stare at snakes. Like, I don't think you understand the fear in me unless you're terrified of something that I feel. But when I can sit there and actually, like, breathe through it, talk my way through it, feel wherever the feels are in my body. Give myself permission to feel them and but also release them and be okay every single time that happens. It builds that muscle in me, that muscle in me of like, "No, no, no, nothing's going to scare me and nothing's going to hold me back." And it has made me so excited to live. Like, I don't even know how to describe it. Like, I'm so excited to live. My poor husband is going crazy with my like 295-day countdown to the next time I get to swim in the ocean. And he's like, "Oh my word. I never.: he's like, "In 28 years of being with you, I never thought this is who you'd be." 

Jenny Ryce

Well, I love it because we've kind of created a monster in a really good way.

Dawn Taylor

She's a monster. 

Jenny Ryce

Okay, so let's let's let's visit back. We've just gotten off the tandem bikes. We get on to the we've done this two note. We've had lunch. 

Dawn Taylor

We've the Jaguar Orange bus.

Jenny Ryce 

Right. We get on this groovy bus and they're playing the coolest old rock and roll. It was actually a really good time.

Dawn Taylor 

It was very entertaining. 

Jenny Ryce

Yeah. So we get to the beach. We again go out past the, you know, we're out in the zone doing the things and, you know, maybe going out a little farther than we're supposed to, but, you know, and you're like, “I want to try paddleboarding.” Uh, so we swim back in. And like you say, you get a little bit of resistance. 

Dawn Taylor

Oh, I full-on, like, asked to paddleboard. He did an up and down and was like, well I don't know if you'll be able to and I was do you remember? I was like, “Because I'm fat?” and the poor guy's face. And I was like, “Oh, cause I'm fat. Okay, cool, cool. Good, good.” Right?

Jenny Ryce

And you know what? What kind of frustrated me as there was another lady that would not stand up on the board. No, because I think that was the same response that she had had to. You know, had we been there, I think we would have been able to change that for her. Um, so we get you a life jacket. I grabbed the paddle board. I'm like, “Screw you, dude.” 

Dawn Taylor

Well, because we had to, but we kind of waited until they weren't there. Yeah, they took it off. They walked away to go get lunch. Yeah. And I was like, “I'm doing this.” And I grabbed everything and we just went like, yeah. 

Jenny Ryce

And so what did it feel like? So here's the thing. And the reason I want to bring this up, especially for those listening, we've all had that. 

Dawn Taylor

All of us. 

Jenny Ryce

You might be too overweight. You might be too skinny. You might be the wrong gender. You might have the wrong hair color. Like people will make us feel we're not capable in our hearts when we feel like we can. And when I say capable, I mean to try. You might not be good at it. Nobody can expect to be good at anything when you try it for the first time. Yeah, but to try, you're all, everybody's capable to try, right? Yeah. We'll get the paddle board in the water. We've got your life jacket on because, of course, those are the rules, which is smart. Okay? I'm an advocate for making good choices. Safety is everyone's responsibility. 

Dawn Taylor

I was like, what up? I'm fine, I float. 

Jenny Ryce

Well dude. Honestly. So we get you on the board. And you're like, I'm standing up, I don't care what happens. And I'm like, hey, can we just get you a little deeper? So if you do fall off, which is possible, you're not going to hit the bottom. So we get out there, right? What I love is you're screaming at me. “Let go, let go!” Unbeknownst to you, I've had let go. 

Dawn Taylor

Oh, I think at one point I, like, threatened your life with the paddle if you didn't let go. And I was like, kind of like I was like a defiant toddler on that board. 

Jenny Ryce

And so I was just there just really as moral support than anything. Because it takes a minute. If you've never been on a paddle board, it's all about core strength and balance. And if you've never done it, you don't know to go from sitting on the board, which really you should be kneeling on the board to standing. There's a precarious time, right? So I was not actually holding the board. Well, in your world, am I? I told you I was holding the board, but I have my hands on either side of the board ready to grab it. So if you needed to, it didn't flip because I was like, we need this girl to have like, we got you got to get standing. Once you're standing, 

Dawn Taylor

Jenny moms me a little. She takes care of me. 

Jenny Ryce

Yeah, just a little. So I knew, though once you got standing, it's like your confidence would kick in and away you go. Because falling off when you're trying to stand sucks. It's like then you got to climb back on and do the things. So yeah, I love it. You're ripping me a new one in a fun way about like, look. 

Dawn Taylor

And keep in mind again, these are all the same people that have been laughing at us all day,  all day because we're sassy with each other. And yes, I was totally screaming at you in the middle of the ocean. 

Jenny Ryce

Yeah, which was so good. So I let go. And what happened? All paddleboarded.

Dawn Taylor

And didn't fall once. Thank you very much. 

Jenny Ryce

Not only did you not fall. The really cool thing was, is the smile on your face would have literally lit up a whole room. Have we been in a dark room. And the pride. You're like, I am doing this. I have the coolest video of you doing it like you nailed it. And I have to tell you being on a paddleboard. Yes. You see these people doing dog poses and all those kinds of things. Generally speaking, your body's in a weird shape. When you're on a paddle board. Your knees are slightly bent. You know, you got like, it's not the sexiest view, right? Like you're out there for the world to see, right? And you were killing it. And I love that about you. And what was really powerful is this couple, um, a mom and daughter saw you paddleboarding. And what happened?

Dawn Taylor

They got up into that, too. 

Jenny Ryce

Exactly. 

Dawn Taylor

And they had also, and they had a million excuses why they couldn't. My one leg is shorter and I can't. And I'm too heavy and I'm too tall and I'm too this and I'm too that. And the minute they saw me up there, they were like, “Oh, if she can do it, we can do it.” And the amount of times that you and I heard that on that trip. 

Jenny Ryce

It was unreal. 

Dawn Taylor

It was so interesting. And so I think that's part of this is not only I know we've rambled on our stories for a long time now, but it's not just about facing your fears. Face your damn fear so that the world does not have this control over you anymore. 

Jenny Ryce

Absolutely. 

Dawn Taylor

Face them. Just get in there and face your fears. Right? Do the scary things. Because really, what's the worst case scenario? It proves that you should have been scared of it. Cool. Now you're scared of it some more and you have another fear. Whatever. You're fine. Right? But 

like. 99% of the time you can overcome it and it's no longer scary and it holds no power over you. And it's you taking your power back, piece by piece by piece, that we have given out our entire lives, right? But more importantly. When we face our fears, it does give other people permission to do the same.

Jenny Ryce 

Mhm. 

Dawn Taylor

Because they see us doing the hard things. They see us doing that. And that's not why I did it. You and I both know, Jenny, that at no point was I doing it to have anybody even acknowledge I was doing it. And when you asked me about recording this, you're like, I want to record a podcast on this because you face some big fears and biases, and I think people need to know this. And I mean, give me shit as much as people. What about not posting more of my life on social media? I don't do these things for accolades or recognition. I never have. I do these things because deep down I don't want to feel the fear anymore. 

Jenny Ryce

Mhm. 

Dawn Taylor

Right. And I want to change that in my own world and. 1.3s Yeah, it was really, really interesting. The I was telling someone, I've never been on a trip where, you know, we're getting off the cruise ship and there were probably 25, 30 people that were like, so, like, so excited.  But there were so many cool moments where we challenged people. We nudged up against people, we showed them. It was like, no, this is this doesn't deserve to be scary to you. 

Jenny Ryce

And I think what really anchored into and why I thought this was really important for us to talk about and share. Plus, it's fun to reminisce and I hope you guys have enjoyed the shenanigans. And that was the title of our trip. 

Dawn Taylor

Oh my gosh, there were so many shenanigans. Ask us one day about renting an electric vehicle in Texas. That's a whole nother story. I was like, if you want that story, you need to like, message me. Oh my gosh, not recommended. We'll put it that way. 

Jenny Ryce

It's not only again creating the space for other people. So when you show up for yourself and you step in and you do things that are uncomfortable, like you were just sharing on, as you create a space that provides people to do the same. And I don't know how many times I heard on the trip, if I didn't have you there to support me, I wouldn't have given that a try because I was helping random strangers do things, and not because I'm a superstar, but because I wasn't afraid to try myself and I was willing to help people I don't know try. So, it's not always about just facing the fear. It's finding ways to, like, expand on that and create a safe space for people to try. Because really like, the worst that can happen is you decide. Actually, this really isn't for me. And that's not the worst thing. There's an acceptance then. Like you said, it was a really cool experience to leave that cruise ship with all these people that were drawn to us. Not because, okay, we're a good time. Let's be real, right? Like we are hilarious. We're a lot of fun. But we were open and people felt connected and heard. I mean, yeah, people wanting to learn how to play cards, people joining us to play cards. Where do you, where do you go?

Dawn Taylor

People are asking how I got the food I got on my plate and how to order it like that. Like the weirdest. We had the funniest experience with people just really curious about 

us. 

Jenny Ryce

Yeah, and connecting with people on a different level. So when we step outside our fear and we allow ourselves to experience it in different ways, again, you are not the same person. And we have this conversation when we realized we had booked these things. And these excursions. 

Um, unbeknown to me, everything we booked pretty much. There was one component we knew was to be true, and then everything else was like.

Dawn Taylor

I don't know how we did not pay any attention. Like, I know we it was like our brains filtered out everything except one little baby thing in each excursion. We're like, that sounds like fun. And then we ignored all of the rest. 

Jenny Ryce

All of the rest. And what was really cool was that. It changed our way of being, right. And and it may be invalidated other ways that we are naturally, it was pretty, pretty unique. And for me, what I took, especially when we went to the chocolate farm, when we drove in Belize and we were at that chocolate farm, and they were giving us an opportunity to actually, like, create chocolate by hand and tortillas like the old fashioned way.

Dawn Taylor

In a Mayan village. 

Jenny Ryce

And nobody would get up but me. I was like, and then I was talking to the because the one young lady she was, it was her 30th birthday. Was it something like she. gorgeous soul. You could see it in her eyes and she's looking at me. We're talking. I'm like, you are never going to get a chance to do this again. I think you need to get up and do this. And she did. And then it got her sister to get up. And I don't share that in a sense of, oh, look at me, like you. It's this. That's not what this is about. It's about cracking the door open for yourself and holding it open for other people. Right? Don't be ashamed to be proud like you standing on that paddle board and, like, literally cheering yourself like you were like, yeah, that's like dad. And like, we were watching.

Dawn Taylor

Screaming on the paddle board and cheering, right? I am, I'm doing this. Oh, I was so salty that day. 

Jenny Ryce

It was so fantastic. And then literally this woman's like, “Jenny, will you help me?” And I'm like, absolutely. And she did it. And you know what she said? And I think you were there because we were snorkeling with them. That they went on a different excursion the day we went to the chocolate, she said. I actually felt safe and empowered on her next excursion because they were actually doing a paddle board, which was more of like a, wasn't quite a traditional paddle board, but they were going out with manatees and she's like, “And I could go and relax and enjoy myself because I knew I could do it.” And I was like, “Yes, yes, Queen, you can do it.” So we can do things to hopefully inspire and and spark you guys to, oh my gosh, don't live in your shadows. Hey, let's live, right. 

Dawn Taylor

Just live. If I can put my face under the water after what I went through and that amount of time of a debilitating fear, so can you. 

Jenny Ryce

It was an honor to be a part of that and to you know, laugh with you, hold your hand whatever it needed. Right. Like scream with you cheer all those kind of things. It just allowed me to 

Appreciate the courage that it takes to do that. Don't get me wrong, I have to battle my own fears. I got my own stuff too, but we touched on a lot of things on that trip that you weren't comfortable with. 

Dawn Taylor

Oh, so many. Right? 

Jenny Ryce

So, you know, that's why I just really wanted to highlight the change in you from that has been. monumental, right? It's literally like changing your belief system, right? You've changed your belief system. And it's been life changing. 

Dawn Taylor

And it has. And I have no regrets. No regrets. Was it scary? Yes. Did I wreck a pair of shoes? Lose a skirt? I mean,  there was some damage. Did we get some sunburns? Being near the equator. Like, yeah, there was a financial cost. There was a ring. And yeah, there were some moments. There were some moments. But, man. If you could bottle the feeling of knowing you overcame something.  Like, if I could bottle that and give that to the world, I would. 

Jenny Ryce

That's the Willy Wonka golden ticket, right? So to sum this up. When we think about, you know, excluding the trip. Our time together, when you sum up. 1How would you sum up what you overcame in the outcome? When we finish off with our audience today, what are some of the key things you want to leave with them so that when they find themselves saying yes or no to something. Because of an inherent fear or, you know, whatever might be holding them back, whether it's judgment, all those kind of things. What do you want to make sure that the audience hears from you as we finish this, this episode? 

Dawn Taylor

Nobody else actually cares. So, being out there in a bathing suit, standing on a paddle board.

Yelling at you, but nobody else there cared. Not a single other person was like oh. And you know what if they were. I didn't know about it. 

Jenny Ryce

I would say they were cheering for you, to be honest. 

Dawn Taylor

Oh, I think that that entire beach was cheering for me in that moment because they could well, they were listening and laughing and they could see and hear it. All right, guys, I was salty. It was funny. I should have had my own comedy show that day, but like, nobody else actually cares. It's us. 

Jenny Ryce

Mhm. 

Dawn Taylor

Right? And failure is not falling in the water. Failure is not any of those things. Failure would have been sitting on the shore and watching everyone else do it and not attempt. I  think lowering my expectations of it. I went in just being like, whatever happens, happens. And, you know, it's funny at the end when I was like, speed paddling in because I was like, oh, I'm going to go in really fast. And you guys were all like, so afraid. And then I was like, I'm fine, and got in and jumped off the paddleboard and kind of just walked over and very sassily was like, and I did it to the instructor guy. You know, it's those moments, those feelings of like, “No, I did it.” And it didn't have like, no, I wasn't doing yoga on a paddle board. And no, I wasn't  paddling out into the waves. And I was like, no, I wasn't doing those things. I had a very low expectation of how it had to be in order for me to succeed at it. And I think that's something I would want to leave people with, is like, when you look at any of those things, what's your success rate like? What's your tangible of, when you can measure that you succeeded at it and the moment where you're like, no, I kind of sucked and failed at that. That was really bad. Figure that out for yourself. So going in, you even have a tangible number on that for yourself or an idea on that for yourself. And for me, it was if I could actually like, go in a circle and get back to sure, I had succeeded.  If I fell off and I did all those things right. If I fell off and couldn't get back on, that's what I needed to, like, walk away and be like, yeah, okay, let's not fight this losing battle anymore. Face them. There's so much less scary than you could possibly imagine. There's so much less scary. And what is the actual worst case scenario of what would happen if you did it again? Right? Like, what was the worst case scenario? I was going to fall back into the water I had just been swimming at. There was like 3.5 ft deep. 

Jenny Ryce

Worst case, you're getting wet again. 

Dawn Taylor

Worst case, like, that was it? Right? And often our worst case scenario. We forgot to look at that and think, huh, I could actually overcome that. I don't deal with that. 

Jenny Ryce

You know, I'd like to just interject and share. You know, you didn't go from being terrified to put your face under water to getting on a paddle board. You allowed yourself those baby steps of nurturing yourself to get to the point where you can have a shower with your face under the water, and then in your bathtub exercise 

Dawn Taylor

Baby steps to the bus, bub.

Jenny Ryce 

Right. And so again, you set yourself up for success. Yeah. By healing and working through those stages. And then when it came to Paddleboard Day, it's like, okay. I just want to stand up. Anything above that's gravy. 

Dawn Taylor

Oh, totally. Just had to prove I could. Right. And then now it's like, yeah, you're going to. There's no doubt in my mind you'll be paddleboarding again. None. 

Jenny Ryce

Oh, yeah. 

Dawn Taylor

Because now it's just a matter of okay, now I want to actually get good at this craft. I want to also, going to be doing a hell a lot of snorkeling in my future.

Jenny Ryce

It's so exciting, right. Thank you Dawn for sharing your truth and your vulnerability. It's hard to sometimes admit where our fears live and the beautiful thing is when people meet you, right? They have this vision of this strong, put together entrepreneur, successful. You are a force in your own right with a vulnerable, gushy center. Right? You're like a Cadbury egg. 

Dawn Taylor

Oh, I always joke that I'm an armadillo. 

Jenny Ryce

Okay, right. 

Dawn Taylor

I'm like a really tender tummy. A big, hard shell protecting it.

Jenny Ryce

Yeah. So allowing people to see the truth of that right is. It's helpful. And we saw that in real time in action. So thank you for allowing me to ask you these questions, for allowing me to reminisce with you and for allowing me to be part of that journey. I was super blessed to be the one that was able to participate in that and be your wingman through all of that.

Dawn Taylor

Thanks for being there. Thanks for being there. And now I yes, yes, I have a trip to book, a trip booked to go snorkeling with my husband. He is so excited. But I just want to go play in the ocean. Yeah. So for everyone listening, thank you. Thank you for hanging out. Thank you for being here. And I really hope that you beat a fear of your own in the future. Join us again in two weeks for another topic. And tell people. Tell people about the podcast. We can get a few more listens, but check out the show notes like hidden located at TheTaylorWay.ca. Yes, we will include a few photos of all of this. Crazy. We'll see if I approve one of my paddleboarding. But if nothing else, send me a message through my website, through my Instagram, through wherever. Send me a message and let me know of a fear you have in your plan to overcome it. Or if you have, I would love to celebrate every one of you and a fear that you want to overcome. Subscribe now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcast. And if you love the show, it would mean the world to me if you leave a rating and review. See you guys later.