Gordon Flett

They may have other forms of mental health challenges.

And what happened is they got some role, maybe in a treatment facility or in a community.

And they said, hey, wait a minute.

I do make a difference.

I do matter.

I do have some way of being an origin rather than a pawn.

And it's transformed lives.

And I can find if I was going on a search, I can find at least 30 stories in published journal articles and chapters where somebody took on a role like that.

And it changed their life as well as the lives that they encountered along the way.

And I also acknowledge I don't want to minimize people's pain.

I don't want to minimize the pain and people go, well, you know, I don't have much opportunity to matter is a concern that some people have.

Tell me, and my, and my wife has said this to me, you know, what about the people who feel like there's no open door for them?

There's going to be a door there.

If you can find one, whether it's in your community or reaching out to other people and or even finding a younger person that you can make a difference in because they might need somebody to listen to them when nobody else is.

And you know, my, my wife was a school librarian and she had told me after she got one year as a school librarian, it was her goal and then she retired.

And started about halfway through the year that there were five young girls who came and instead of going out for recess or for lunch, they would come to the library just to talk to her.

And I said, you know, what difference are you making in their lives?

Because they're there for a reason.

You're providing them with something that they are not getting enough of.

And you're, you know, being a role model.