Fight Through Faith: Interview with Aly Taylor of TLC’s Rattled
My wife is a HUGE fan of the show Rattled on TLC. I swear she’s seen every episode. That being said, if I was in the room, I got sucked into the show as well. One of the couples on the show were Josh and Aly Taylor. Their story is one of the most intense I’ve seen in a long time and the thought of having to go through everything they did in a very short period of time got me thinking about mental toughness and a never giving up mentality. When given the opportunity to connect with Aly and share her story and things going on in her life, I jumped on it. I appreciate Aly taking the time out of her day for this interview and I hope it brings you some value. One thing we all need to remember is, no matter what we have going on in our life, someone else has it much worse.
*This interview was conducted between Matt Weik of Weik Fitness and Aly Taylor.
The Fight Through Faith: An Interview with Aly Taylor of TLC’s Rattled
People find adversity in many different ways. For you, it was infertility and the thought of never having kids, the adoption process, and stage 3 breast cancer. What helped you stay strong, push forward, and never stop believing?
Aly Taylor: Well, I must say there were many days I did not stay strong, where I didn’t push forward, and where I did stop believing. I think that is important to note. People can look at my story and think “She had so much faith,” or “She was so strong,” and yes, I was at times, but I also had those moments where I wasn’t strong and felt like I had no faith! But then I had to “pull up my bootstraps” and resolve to fight this. The main thing that helped me was my faith. I wholeheartedly believed that God would heal me and get me through each obstacle, and I surrounded myself with people who had that same faith. Faith builds faith. Also, fear builds fear. Who are you surrounding yourself with? Are you building faith or fear with those around you? I had to cut off some relationships and savor others that were believing for the end of my story to be good.
When you had moments of doubt, moments where you questioned everything in your life, where did you find comfort and hope?
Aly Taylor: I found comfort and hope in the Bible and in my relationship with Jesus. I held true to scripture that God was for me, not against me. And that even though these terrible things were happening in my life, I had to trust that they had their purpose and that good (as hard as that was to say or even imagine) would come out of these awful things. I also found comfort and hope in other people’s stories, even though there were few out there who had my type of cancer and were alive and well today. But the stories that I did hear about, I held onto. They brought me great hope.
Were you always a fighter or is it something that once faced with a hardship you formed?
Aly Taylor: I always have kind of been a fighter. I am competitive by nature and love a good challenge. However, I do think it was formed in me over time. I lost my dad when I was 10 years old in a car accident. My mom always says I was the strength of the family. I always wanted to make sure everyone was okay. I am a caretaker and I learned pretty early on that there are terrible things that happen in life. However, I wanted to enjoy my life in the midst of trials, so I had to choose to fight for joy in whatever came my way. I definitely wasn’t going to give up or choose to have a mediocre life. We only get one life and I want to live it well.
It seems like you were unfortunately dealt one blow after the next. Did you ever sit back and question “why me?”
Aly Taylor: Yes, I definitely have wondered that. I always come back to believing that God allowed all of these things to happen in my life for a million reasons — to shape me, to make me look more like Him, to make me a better mom, wife, friend, etc. But ultimately, I think He knew He would get the glory when I had one blow after the next and the miracle that would come after the blow. I have to believe He trusted me enough to know I would give him glory and praise all along the way and when I got to the other side.
People like to say “everything happens for a reason.” Do you believe that?
Aly Taylor: While I do believe in much of that statement, I do believe it is overused and many times ill-timed. For instance, I cringe when someone loses someone, and someone says “Everything happens for a reason.” Well, yes, yes it does, but that is not the time to say that! At that moment, that person is hurting and the loss of someone may never make sense this side of heaven! So, yes, I do believe things happen for a reason but I am hesitant to use that statement when someone is in the middle of a storm. I now know that cancer was the way I would have my kids, so yes, cancer happened to me for a reason. But, if someone would have told me that in the middle of my fight, I’d probably want to punch them. Haha.
How important was your husband, Josh, during all of these difficult times?
Aly Taylor: Josh was and is my rock. I seriously think he should be on a billboard for the best caretaker of all time. He was only 26 when I was diagnosed. What 26-year-old imagines his wife having breast cancer, not being able to become parents, and then once we do, we almost lose them?! Let’s just say he has been through a lot. His unwavering love, his constant presence, his faith and belief that God was writing our story has been the difference maker for me.
What advice do you have for people out there who are going through some rough patches and are finding it hard to find the good out of the situation?
Aly Taylor: My advice is to think of the things you are thankful for. Get a journal. Write things down. During one of my hardest times dealing with fear, I had Post-It notes all over my mirror of the smallest things I was thankful for. I was so bombarded with fear and doubt that I was determined to not let it get the best of me. When you remind yourself of the things you are thankful for, it is a weapon to those strongholds that attempt to destroy you.
Go for walks. Get outside. Surround yourself with people who will cry with you, but also people who will make you laugh. Go see a movie. Have a prayer circle for whatever you are needing prayer for. And find other people to reach out to in order to get your mind off of yourself.
Your new book is coming out and you poured your heart and soul into it telling the difficulties you faced in your life. Can you tell us a little more about the book and was it hard writing it and in a sense reliving all of those feelings all over again?
Aly Taylor: Yes, we are so excited about our new book! It is basically just the story of how my family came to be. It tells of me dating Josh and our marriage, all the way to cancer, infertility, adoption, and our miracle pregnancy. It is very raw and real, but it is also quite funny. We wrote this book together, so it is more like a conversation with Josh and me, which is fun and easy to read. I promised myself that if and when I got through my cancer battle, I would write a book about my story. I had such a hard time finding success stories with someone as young as me and with my type of cancer, so I was determined to write a book. Who would have known our story would be so much bigger than overcoming cancer?!
It was extremely difficult and rewarding to write and re-live. As I would write things and read my parts of the book to Josh, many times I couldn’t even say out loud what was written. That is the beauty of the written word. Many times, we are willing to write something we can’t very well say. But it was so good for me to write it down. To re-face those difficulties and emotions.
One of my sweet friends at one time said, “If you don’t intentionally remember, you will relapse.” Goodness, that hit me like a ton of bricks! And that is what this book helped me to do. When we intentionally remember, it protects us from relapsing. What I mean is even when amazing miracles have happened in your life, you can forget, if you’re not careful. Or you can start living without the same sense of gratefulness that you did shortly after the miracle. Well, by intentionally remembering, you can live in that gratefulness every day. Writing this book gave me a renewed sense of joy and awe of what God has done for my family. And I am so, so grateful.
Aly Taylor and her husband, Josh, have a new book that they just released called Aly’s Fight. If you are interested in reading it, you can pick up a copy here.
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