 The substance use crisis here in BC isn't something that's happening in another world. This is affecting people that we know. This is something that's happening in our communities. The overdose crisis is impacting men because we suffer in silence. In my experience growing up, it was always a show of strength to hide your feelings. In today's day and age, true strength comes through when you talk about your feelings. You open up, you show your vulnerability. There was a time that was my mindset. Why are you sad? Feel good about the sunshine and the birds are singing, but when you're caught up in that place where you don't see the sunshine, you don't feel birds chirping, you really don't have a choice in that matter. That was always my mindset as well. We can just snap in and out of things and most times you can't. When we're out on the field, we're seen as gladiators. We're seen as tough guys. But when we take our helmets off and we take our cleats off, we're people. We deal with the same struggles that anybody who's walking the streets deal with. If the big strong guys can stand up and be emotionally vulnerable and available, I think that goes a long way in moving the conversation forward and so I think there's a lot of athletes in this day and age who recognize that. So it really can be freeing for people to know that, listen, you're not alone and feeling not okay. There's a lot of people going through different phases in their lives and it's not all smooth sailing all the time. And that's when it's most important to have someone to lean on, have someone to talk to, have someone who can share their strength with you. You don't have to solve the problem. Sometimes when people are dealing with something, they just want to vent, they just want to let it out and actively listening, actively supporting without judgment is sometimes the most important thing you can do for someone. Just check in. Just checking in. It might be as little as a text message. How are you feeling today? Haven't talked in a week. How have you been? And sometimes that can spark a conversation. Sometimes it's just a hello and that's all it is, but just being present and emotionally available for people around you I think is hugely important. Our true strength would be to reach out, to share those feelings, to share those emotions. It's a re-imagination of what a gladiator is, what a tough guy is, to seek help.