Ryan is on the right path. Exactly where he is meant to be.
How did he get here? Yes, there were a few bumps and scrapes, but it lead to a journey that he was meant to follow to help him recover and to help others.
Ryan Golt is the ideal example of embracing what happens to you and making a meaningful life out of it.
I first met Ryan Golt at the very first Mental Health Empowerment Day (@mentalhealthempowerentday) about seven years ago where he shared his mental health journey with the audience. Completely at a loss for words (yes, this can happen to me) with tears in my eyes from his bravery and strength, I began to follow Ryan on social media. Somehow knowing that I would reach out to him in the future for something.
And of course, I did as something did happen. A book I was writing called Get Up needed Ryan’s voice in it, as his purpose epitomizes the meaning of every word that was published.
When it came to the advice that he would tell his teenage self – well, it took me for a loop. Wise words that I had to read a few times until I finally really understood it. And when I did, I couldn’t wait for my readers to understand it, too.
As for the title of this article – Ryan is on the right path. Well, I believe that he is exactly where he needs to be. Keep reading and you will see why.
I am a brother, a son, a friend, and a partner. A mental health advocate. I am connected to those roles with the values that I hold. I foster each relationship and have a commitment to them. But it doesn’t stop there. I like to take my experience with my mental health and the privilege that I have had with the support systems that have helped me and give back. In particular to those who might not be able to have access to the right support.
About seven or eight years ago, when I was a second-year student at McGill University, I went through a year-long depression. For the first six months, I suffered in silence. I kept to myself, and didn’t let anyone in and obviously didn’t get any support.
On the sixth month mark, on Bell Let’s Talk Day, (@bell_letstalk) I shared what I was going through on Facebook. I didn’t want anyone to treat me differently – I just wanted people to know what I was going through.
Many people began to reach out to me and shared that they too were going through similar challenges. The positive impact of social media made its mark because I began to learn that I wasn’t alone. I took ownership of my story and shared it in a way that helped heal me and supported others – we were building a community.
From that moment, that became the beginning of my career on being a mental health advocate.
Once I put my story up on social media, people began to view me as a mental health advocate and ask me questions. This is where I realized that I wanted to do more to help and support others.
Together with a few other McGill students, I organized about six students and we began Stronger than Stigma (@strongerthanstigmamcgill). We had a speaker series. Mental health weeks. Self-care and wellness workshops and an opportunity for people to blog so people can share their stories.
Similar to “Humans of New York”, we created “Minds of McGill”, where students were interviewed about their mental health. We did a lot of work to destigmatize mental illness at the McGill campus, which eventually expanded to Concordia University, (@stsconcordia) thanks to my cousin thanks to the leadership of my cousin Jill Caplan. Gratefully, Stronger than Stigma continues to operate on both campuses successfully to this day.
I work for Capitalize for Kids (@Capitalizeforkids) which is a non-profit organization that raises funds so that we can provide pro-bono consulting services for youth mental health organizations. In a nutshell, we support agencies so kids can get the mental health services they need as quickly as possible. I believe that this is the ideal job for me.
I love to spend time with people I love. My friends, my girlfriend, and my family. I also love going to concerts and playing sports. Don’t forget about my alone time, too. Nothing like a good book or Netflix show on my couch.
Over the course of the pandemic, I have become a plant father. So over the course of the week, I must devote at least an hour to taking care of my 25 plants!
When we are faced with challenges, we can either do two things. We can let it blind us from learning from it. Or we can embrace it, and let it teach us something so that it can guide us to a path that we are meant to lead.
Ryan is on the right path.
Exactly where he needs to be.
And he has his mental health to thank him for bringing him here.
