[Music]
hi guys I just wanted to say I’m really
thankful for all the people that are
attending the conference I’m also very
thankful for all the attendees for
delivering some great speeches and
sharing with us some ideas and I’m
really thankful for all of the
organizers for giving me this chance to
speak in front of you all so here we go
so today we’re here to talk about plan B
which is our theme but my speech is
about a successful plan C or plan Z plan
X whatever you want to call it an
alternate plan so before we go to that
what do you think a plan a really means
so doesn’t mean a great job does it mean
Fame does it mean fortune to some people
it might mean having a bunch of kids
grandkids maybe your idea of achievement
is helping people see the Word of God
seeing that God is almighty you might
have morality as your achievement may be
saying to people gun violence is wrong
we have must have gun control or no to
abortion or yes to abortion these things
can be achievement however what if
things don’t go according to plan a do
we quit do we keep on pushing or do we
find another route like a plan B a lot
of times when things don’t go according
to plan
a some people just think that their
future is not there anymore there’s
nothing left for me so what if something
like that happens what about the people
on the street that don’t even have a
plan that don’t have a future so when we
go to plan B do we think that a plan B
is as good as plan a or is Plan B and
being on plan B just a reminder that you
never got to do plan a that you will
always be a failure so it’s a I’m going
to the next part which is successful
Plan C so it’s who even go to a
successful Plan C
we have to see if we could we even stay
on one plan for the rest of our lives
can we anticipate what happens or do we
have to sacrifice ourselves to the plan
in order for our plan to happen do we
just give up things so yeah I have a
mental illness I suffer from a mental
illness and my plan a was to have great
grades I went to UC Berkeley I graduated
I got a ton of internships at different
law firms and I feel like I was pretty
socially adept during the time however a
life changed for me I got a dual
diagnosis after I graduated from college
which means I have schizoaffective
disorder I have a schizoaffective
disorder bipolar type and I have
addiction meaning that I have
schizophrenic thoughts and I also have
bipolar mood disorders and I also have a
strong penchant for doing a lot of drugs
so when I was diagnosed with that I
don’t think I could face the reality of
having such a thing I mean I just liked
to you know smoke weed every once in a
while I everyone smokes weed
I did some drugs every once in a while
ecstasy a you know LSD and my childhood
wasn’t that great right but these were
just normal things I mean there’s no way
that I had gotten to a point where I
couldn’t trust my brain anymore so I
started thinking to myself am i broken
is this just the end I had the stigma of
mental illness being that I was just not
I was deficient I wasn’t going to have a
reason to live on anymore so I thought
maybe I’m gonna just disappear and it
was so much pain that I hid away from
everyone else including myself so
afterwards I fought to stay alive I
really really fought but it wasn’t in
the same way that you think I would be
doing instead of fighting it by facing
it I ran away from it I fought it till
the end and I didn’t take medication for
a year I continued moving from place to
place going to live at people’s houses I
kept doing drugs and drugs if you want
to know is your
strongest ally if you’re an addict you
would think that maybe a girlfriend your
your brother or your sister your mom or
dad would be the most trustworthy thing
in your life but drugs to a drug addict
is the most trustworthy you think you
can abuse it you can buy it you could do
whatever you want with it and the drug
will always be there to make you feel at
least kind of good
so my illness it became stronger much
much stronger I started talking to
people in my mind I started seeing
people that weren’t there and having
conversations with them and I started
believing in things that weren’t even
real
I became one of those people on the
street that you would say well that
person is just murmuring to themselves
maybe he’s laughing at something for no
reason and that person might be yelling
at something that’s not even there that
person is just lying on the street just
sleeping and that was me that’s where my
future was headed I saw that possibility
in front of myself so with all those
things in my mind I started thinking
well maybe I’m Jesus Christ
maybe I’m the king of China maybe I am
the son of God so these things kept me
alive they made me feel like I had
control my life that I was invincible
because it was my last defense against
my own brain so the reality of it was I
lost a place to live I lost my friends
and family and I lost any ability to
take care of myself I didn’t have health
insurance from my parents because they
said you’re crazy you don’t need it just
quit your drugs that’s it I couldn’t
hold on to a job I was trying to go to
jobs from job to job I was taking
medication sometimes I couldn’t even
concentrate and everyone that was around
me left me even the people that aren’t
even good for me they left me so drugs
became my prerogative and delusions
became my truth meaning that everything
was just a lie almost I can only hang on
to life and just hope for the best
so describing all of that how did I get
from there
to stand in front of all of you today
how did I become how did I come from
being one of those dudes on the street
being here and presenting a TED talk in
front of you well I just think I’m one
of the lucky people that were able to do
that and I can’t logically define to you
exactly the steps of how I got here
however I think I could tell you guys
about what helped me and that thing is
something called the gift of faith and
this gift of faith was from my sister
who was sitting sitting up there with me
sitting up there and while listening to
this it was because there was someone
that I truly loved as someone that truly
loved me back and they believed in Who I
am inside of me a person that after
having the illness and all the drugs I
gave up on that person a long time ago
that person wasn’t me anymore but she
continued to see that that was who I
really am and so because of that and all
the Saturdays she would take me out to
just get a sandwich and walk around
Silver Lake so I could still feel like a
cool guy I started thinking I had this
one thought I remember walking out of a
sandwich shop with her I was like whoa
maybe Anne Hathaway is not my wife and I
don’t have to constantly think that
she’s my childhood love this one single
thought was this click and it became my
greatest tool because I started to think
maybe my delusions aren’t real maybe it
could be a false reality so I took small
steps forward and I quit drugs and I
went to ma na AAA all these different
meetings I started seeing a drug
counselor and I worked on my sobriety
right now I still you know whenever I’m
stressed right now I want to go outside
and have smoke a cigarette by don’t
because that’s part of my sobriety I’ve
started giving myself to therapy I went
every week my therapists were great even
if I was high out of my mind I would
still go they would still talk to me
they let me talk about my life I started
taking medication consistently my sister
and I we did a lot of research
I tried this drug I tried that drug I
kept trying until I got of her
perfect combination that would match my
match my symptoms and I started creating
a support network around myself I
started having friends family co-workers
that were different than what I had
before they believed in me and they
believed that I would be able to have a
future I would be able to be a normal
person and live a good life so because I
started healing I started finally seeing
myself I started seeing that I was an
honest person that I was really kind and
I actually was able to get back some of
my sense of humor that I had thought
lost a long time ago so I decided I
started separating myself from my mental
illness so if you see these pictures
here I was doing face masks with my
sister because I started having a lot of
bad acne because of taking this drug
called lithium when I started talking to
my mom more and she I said happy New
Year to her and she’s like for all of us
I’m like yeah for all of us and she’s
always really good with those stickers
or like WeChat and all that so really
good the last one is a picture is a text
between me and my drug counselor and now
he’s my coworker his name is Joe and I
said thanks for giving me a new life man
and helping me find that job and he said
he loves me too this is like a 65 year
old 30 year heroin addict Latino working
in an Asian mental health facility but
that guy that guy helped me a lot too so
I recovered and or I am still in
recovery I think that’s very true I
shouldn’t have said that but I’m still
recovering and I started doing things I
never thought I would do after I trained
I became a peer advocate at the center
the same company as where I received
treatment and I started helping people
out and I started taking risks that were
calculated into helping my future and
not just taking risks to be like oh it’s
you know it’s 1:00 a.m. I’m gonna call
someone up I’m gonna go out and have a
good time gonna drink sometimes that’s
fun you got to do that but I don’t drink
I drink soda but you know I wasn’t gonna
do it there every Saturday to see if I
could meet some girl that I wanted to
see or what girls were out there
whatever’s so after doing these things
people started to believe in me my boss
started believing in me my co-workers
believed in me my friends my family
started believing in me and then I
started seeing that I started believing
in myself that Berkeley all the high
school sad times and all my ideals
started springing out because I used to
be a guy that loved people I was really
depressed or in high school
but I remembered what kept me alive was
seeing people out there that were
helping other people and I wanted to be
like that at one point and this time it
was an opportunity to finally give in to
my ideals to actually stand up for my
ideals so if you go back once up one
second so that’s me in the middle and
out and my boss is next to me she’s the
more elder lady and we’re all together
at a Halloween thing the the guy that’s
wearing a dress on the right side he was
one of our clients and he very staunchly
is a type of transvestite that still
likes women
so I told him I would wear a dress for
Halloween if you do too
so we made a pact and I didn’t wear a
dress but I am wearing a bra under that
went to the flea market I bought a pink
bra and I stuffed it with socks and I
went to and went to work and these
people down here are all my co-workers
my boss is right there and they are an
integral part to how I am recovering
today so you can ask what got me here
now my daily schedule to fight back was
going back to school to get a drug and
alcohol certificate which my coworker
Joe and drug counselor told me to do and
I thought it was a good good way to use
my time I started waking up every day at
5:00 a.m. to run hike or even run and
hike so physical health is really
important to how your mental health can
be it creates chemicals there’s dopamine
serotonin all these things help your
mind become healthier I also started
developing a philosophy about mental
health one that was not only true to
myself but also adapted from the people
that I respected and also school so I
wake up in the morning exercise
go to work then go to school at night I
started eating healthier just like our
other presenter was here talking about I
didn’t quit meat but I started eating
non-gmo fruits and vegetables organic
everything I even even dubbed into the
gluten-free things because I’ve heard
gluten is not good for people who have
mental disorders so I started having a
healthy social life – a kind of life
that was about my health my and my
future instead of comparing myself to
other people or just drawing out time so
that I could smoke more drugs so my life
is about this this is called the
recovery model which is part of the
philosophy of my mental health advocacy
so according to the recovery model it is
compared to the medical model that was
created during the 1980s
the medical model kept people in their
diagnosis in hospital as a in
hospitalization and labeling them as
invalid people people that didn’t matter
you just keep them in boarding homes you
slap a label on them they got nothing in
their life they’re just their mentally
ill and the recovery model is teaching
people that mental illness is just a
condition it has nothing to do with the
person it could be mental illness is the
same as diabetes it’s the same as cancer
it doesn’t change who the person is
inside so every individual deserves to
have education if they want it they want
to learn stuff they can go to work if
they want they can volunteer if they
want a family they can have a family I
remember when I first started working
there was this older gentleman that was
talking to me and he said well we can’t
have kids right because I mean I don’t
want to pass on my illness to the next
generation I don’t want my son or my
daughter to have a mental illness and
that that’s the staunch reality of what
people have with mental illness so I
started believing in this theory that my
boss started talking about and it’s
called pizza theory I thought we’re
gonna have pizza dough I know no pizza
okay but pizza the pizza theory is about
one slice let’s just say that pepperoni
with mushroom slice I know I’m making
you all hungry
but that pepperoni and mushroom slice is
mental illness the rest of it is the
rest of the person so that the sausage
with the green peppers that could be
them being an awesome singer the other
slice over there with the onions maybe
that can mean that guy dresses really
well or that I don’t know Olive one that
might be able to mean that that that
person is a really funny person they
have a lot of jokes they’re never
serious about life so recovery model is
about no judgement that a person who has
mental illness still has life still has
a soul so it goes to successful Plan C
so what is my speech about for
successful Plan C it’s about Plan C
being better than any plan a that
finding meaning is about knowing
yourself and pushing forward for all the
things that you actually desire having a
mental illness taught me to separate my
negative feelings that might have
spurned into a life that I didn’t want
and turn and turning into this person
that I really did want to be I kept
track of all my symptoms and
understanding all the things that go on
within myself but these things are
easily done and are done by everyone who
doesn’t have a mental illness you have
to figure out who you are to be able to
move forward and it’s that’s a lot about
self-care which is something in the the
industry that is it’s very important to
take care of yourself before you could
take care of another person or else
you’re just you know putting the oxygen
mask on the kid and then you don’t have
a sausage in Madison and you just gone
so I wanted to talk about what my life
is now compared to what that plan a is
now my mental illness which I thought
was a dead-end path has become my
greatest credential to be able to help
other people who have mental illnesses
I started influence the mental health
field in Los Angeles by going to
speaking engagements like this one at
conferences
eating’s at every everything i started
showing up to meetings that
professionals and directors of different
mental health agencies went to I started
inspiring other people to go to these
meetings as well I actually became a
co-chair of a you DMH sanctioned
subcommittee that helped people have
mental health treatments that were based
on cultural identity so it’s called the
API you SCC cultural committee it’s
right there API you SCC and it has
$100,000 each year for a project and I
am incremental in helping to design
those projects so that people who are of
Asian descent have cultural appropriate
services for mental health in Los
Angeles so I just wanted to tell
everyone that you have infinite options
in life even if you have no options at
all you’re able to do something whatever
you want to do if you really love it and
you don’t have to sacrifice everything
for a plan a you don’t have to compare
yourself for anything in a plan a
through a successful plan see I found my
life’s calling and I started helping
those people and I decided to discover
that there’s so many ways to live there
are just too many ways they can live
your life especially when you start
knowing and understanding yourself and
now after people have been a rock for me
in my life I started to understand that
I could be a rock for other people so if
people needed to talk I would hear them
out if people were lost I would be there
so that they have somewhere to belong if
they’re alone I will sit there with them
and I am there if they need to share
something that is a deep dark secret
which we all have if they want me to
share that I’ll share something with
them so my definition of a person who
can do a successful Plan C or just move
forward in their life being honest with
themselves and knowing themselves people
can find who they are in even dark times
dark times actually allow you time to be
able to find yourself people can find
meaning even when they think the whole
world doesn’t even care about them
and sometimes people just need someone
to understand and believe in them be a
friend family social worker and they
need to know that they need someone to
let them know that the world can be a
really crappy place and if they weren’t
there it would be drastically different
and I realized that there is no one on
this planet that is exactly like one of
you guys there is no one you are special
and you are irreplaceable and you are
the only one that can show this world
just who you are and what you believe in
only you can do that no one else it is
your responsibility so I want to end
this with this a mr. Rodgers quote
someone I really loved when I was
younger and I still look now if you
could only sense how important you are
to the lives of those you meet how
important you can be to the people you
may never even dream of there is
something within yourself that you leave
at every meeting with another person so
hopefully you guys go out there and be
awesome thank you very much for this opportunity
hi guys I just wanted to say I’m really
thankful for all the people that are
attending the conference I’m also very
thankful for all the attendees for
delivering some great speeches and
sharing with us some ideas and I’m
really thankful for all of the
organizers for giving me this chance to
speak in front of you all so here we go
so today we’re here to talk about plan B
which is our theme but my speech is
about a successful plan C or plan Z plan
X whatever you want to call it an
alternate plan so before we go to that
what do you think a plan a really means
so doesn’t mean a great job does it mean
Fame does it mean fortune to some people
it might mean having a bunch of kids
grandkids maybe your idea of achievement
is helping people see the Word of God
seeing that God is almighty you might
have morality as your achievement may be
saying to people gun violence is wrong
we have must have gun control or no to
abortion or yes to abortion these things
can be achievement however what if
things don’t go according to plan a do
we quit do we keep on pushing or do we
find another route like a plan B a lot
of times when things don’t go according
to plan
a some people just think that their
future is not there anymore there’s
nothing left for me so what if something
like that happens what about the people
on the street that don’t even have a
plan that don’t have a future so when we
go to plan B do we think that a plan B
is as good as plan a or is Plan B and
being on plan B just a reminder that you
never got to do plan a that you will
always be a failure so it’s a I’m going
to the next part which is successful
Plan C so it’s who even go to a
successful Plan C
we have to see if we could we even stay
on one plan for the rest of our lives
can we anticipate what happens or do we
have to sacrifice ourselves to the plan
in order for our plan to happen do we
just give up things so yeah I have a
mental illness I suffer from a mental
illness and my plan a was to have great
grades I went to UC Berkeley I graduated
I got a ton of internships at different
law firms and I feel like I was pretty
socially adept during the time however a
life changed for me I got a dual
diagnosis after I graduated from college
which means I have schizoaffective
disorder I have a schizoaffective
disorder bipolar type and I have
addiction meaning that I have
schizophrenic thoughts and I also have
bipolar mood disorders and I also have a
strong penchant for doing a lot of drugs
so when I was diagnosed with that I
don’t think I could face the reality of
having such a thing I mean I just liked
to you know smoke weed every once in a
while I everyone smokes weed
I did some drugs every once in a while
ecstasy a you know LSD and my childhood
wasn’t that great right but these were
just normal things I mean there’s no way
that I had gotten to a point where I
couldn’t trust my brain anymore so I
started thinking to myself am i broken
is this just the end I had the stigma of
mental illness being that I was just not
I was deficient I wasn’t going to have a
reason to live on anymore so I thought
maybe I’m gonna just disappear and it
was so much pain that I hid away from
everyone else including myself so
afterwards I fought to stay alive I
really really fought but it wasn’t in
the same way that you think I would be
doing instead of fighting it by facing
it I ran away from it I fought it till
the end and I didn’t take medication for
a year I continued moving from place to
place going to live at people’s houses I
kept doing drugs and drugs if you want
to know is your
strongest ally if you’re an addict you
would think that maybe a girlfriend your
your brother or your sister your mom or
dad would be the most trustworthy thing
in your life but drugs to a drug addict
is the most trustworthy you think you
can abuse it you can buy it you could do
whatever you want with it and the drug
will always be there to make you feel at
least kind of good
so my illness it became stronger much
much stronger I started talking to
people in my mind I started seeing
people that weren’t there and having
conversations with them and I started
believing in things that weren’t even
real
I became one of those people on the
street that you would say well that
person is just murmuring to themselves
maybe he’s laughing at something for no
reason and that person might be yelling
at something that’s not even there that
person is just lying on the street just
sleeping and that was me that’s where my
future was headed I saw that possibility
in front of myself so with all those
things in my mind I started thinking
well maybe I’m Jesus Christ
maybe I’m the king of China maybe I am
the son of God so these things kept me
alive they made me feel like I had
control my life that I was invincible
because it was my last defense against
my own brain so the reality of it was I
lost a place to live I lost my friends
and family and I lost any ability to
take care of myself I didn’t have health
insurance from my parents because they
said you’re crazy you don’t need it just
quit your drugs that’s it I couldn’t
hold on to a job I was trying to go to
jobs from job to job I was taking
medication sometimes I couldn’t even
concentrate and everyone that was around
me left me even the people that aren’t
even good for me they left me so drugs
became my prerogative and delusions
became my truth meaning that everything
was just a lie almost I can only hang on
to life and just hope for the best
so describing all of that how did I get
from there
to stand in front of all of you today
how did I become how did I come from
being one of those dudes on the street
being here and presenting a TED talk in
front of you well I just think I’m one
of the lucky people that were able to do
that and I can’t logically define to you
exactly the steps of how I got here
however I think I could tell you guys
about what helped me and that thing is
something called the gift of faith and
this gift of faith was from my sister
who was sitting sitting up there with me
sitting up there and while listening to
this it was because there was someone
that I truly loved as someone that truly
loved me back and they believed in Who I
am inside of me a person that after
having the illness and all the drugs I
gave up on that person a long time ago
that person wasn’t me anymore but she
continued to see that that was who I
really am and so because of that and all
the Saturdays she would take me out to
just get a sandwich and walk around
Silver Lake so I could still feel like a
cool guy I started thinking I had this
one thought I remember walking out of a
sandwich shop with her I was like whoa
maybe Anne Hathaway is not my wife and I
don’t have to constantly think that
she’s my childhood love this one single
thought was this click and it became my
greatest tool because I started to think
maybe my delusions aren’t real maybe it
could be a false reality so I took small
steps forward and I quit drugs and I
went to ma na AAA all these different
meetings I started seeing a drug
counselor and I worked on my sobriety
right now I still you know whenever I’m
stressed right now I want to go outside
and have smoke a cigarette by don’t
because that’s part of my sobriety I’ve
started giving myself to therapy I went
every week my therapists were great even
if I was high out of my mind I would
still go they would still talk to me
they let me talk about my life I started
taking medication consistently my sister
and I we did a lot of research
I tried this drug I tried that drug I
kept trying until I got of her
perfect combination that would match my
match my symptoms and I started creating
a support network around myself I
started having friends family co-workers
that were different than what I had
before they believed in me and they
believed that I would be able to have a
future I would be able to be a normal
person and live a good life so because I
started healing I started finally seeing
myself I started seeing that I was an
honest person that I was really kind and
I actually was able to get back some of
my sense of humor that I had thought
lost a long time ago so I decided I
started separating myself from my mental
illness so if you see these pictures
here I was doing face masks with my
sister because I started having a lot of
bad acne because of taking this drug
called lithium when I started talking to
my mom more and she I said happy New
Year to her and she’s like for all of us
I’m like yeah for all of us and she’s
always really good with those stickers
or like WeChat and all that so really
good the last one is a picture is a text
between me and my drug counselor and now
he’s my coworker his name is Joe and I
said thanks for giving me a new life man
and helping me find that job and he said
he loves me too this is like a 65 year
old 30 year heroin addict Latino working
in an Asian mental health facility but
that guy that guy helped me a lot too so
I recovered and or I am still in
recovery I think that’s very true I
shouldn’t have said that but I’m still
recovering and I started doing things I
never thought I would do after I trained
I became a peer advocate at the center
the same company as where I received
treatment and I started helping people
out and I started taking risks that were
calculated into helping my future and
not just taking risks to be like oh it’s
you know it’s 1:00 a.m. I’m gonna call
someone up I’m gonna go out and have a
good time gonna drink sometimes that’s
fun you got to do that but I don’t drink
I drink soda but you know I wasn’t gonna
do it there every Saturday to see if I
could meet some girl that I wanted to
see or what girls were out there
whatever’s so after doing these things
people started to believe in me my boss
started believing in me my co-workers
believed in me my friends my family
started believing in me and then I
started seeing that I started believing
in myself that Berkeley all the high
school sad times and all my ideals
started springing out because I used to
be a guy that loved people I was really
depressed or in high school
but I remembered what kept me alive was
seeing people out there that were
helping other people and I wanted to be
like that at one point and this time it
was an opportunity to finally give in to
my ideals to actually stand up for my
ideals so if you go back once up one
second so that’s me in the middle and
out and my boss is next to me she’s the
more elder lady and we’re all together
at a Halloween thing the the guy that’s
wearing a dress on the right side he was
one of our clients and he very staunchly
is a type of transvestite that still
likes women
so I told him I would wear a dress for
Halloween if you do too
so we made a pact and I didn’t wear a
dress but I am wearing a bra under that
went to the flea market I bought a pink
bra and I stuffed it with socks and I
went to and went to work and these
people down here are all my co-workers
my boss is right there and they are an
integral part to how I am recovering
today so you can ask what got me here
now my daily schedule to fight back was
going back to school to get a drug and
alcohol certificate which my coworker
Joe and drug counselor told me to do and
I thought it was a good good way to use
my time I started waking up every day at
5:00 a.m. to run hike or even run and
hike so physical health is really
important to how your mental health can
be it creates chemicals there’s dopamine
serotonin all these things help your
mind become healthier I also started
developing a philosophy about mental
health one that was not only true to
myself but also adapted from the people
that I respected and also school so I
wake up in the morning exercise
go to work then go to school at night I
started eating healthier just like our
other presenter was here talking about I
didn’t quit meat but I started eating
non-gmo fruits and vegetables organic
everything I even even dubbed into the
gluten-free things because I’ve heard
gluten is not good for people who have
mental disorders so I started having a
healthy social life – a kind of life
that was about my health my and my
future instead of comparing myself to
other people or just drawing out time so
that I could smoke more drugs so my life
is about this this is called the
recovery model which is part of the
philosophy of my mental health advocacy
so according to the recovery model it is
compared to the medical model that was
created during the 1980s
the medical model kept people in their
diagnosis in hospital as a in
hospitalization and labeling them as
invalid people people that didn’t matter
you just keep them in boarding homes you
slap a label on them they got nothing in
their life they’re just their mentally
ill and the recovery model is teaching
people that mental illness is just a
condition it has nothing to do with the
person it could be mental illness is the
same as diabetes it’s the same as cancer
it doesn’t change who the person is
inside so every individual deserves to
have education if they want it they want
to learn stuff they can go to work if
they want they can volunteer if they
want a family they can have a family I
remember when I first started working
there was this older gentleman that was
talking to me and he said well we can’t
have kids right because I mean I don’t
want to pass on my illness to the next
generation I don’t want my son or my
daughter to have a mental illness and
that that’s the staunch reality of what
people have with mental illness so I
started believing in this theory that my
boss started talking about and it’s
called pizza theory I thought we’re
gonna have pizza dough I know no pizza
okay but pizza the pizza theory is about
one slice let’s just say that pepperoni
with mushroom slice I know I’m making
you all hungry
but that pepperoni and mushroom slice is
mental illness the rest of it is the
rest of the person so that the sausage
with the green peppers that could be
them being an awesome singer the other
slice over there with the onions maybe
that can mean that guy dresses really
well or that I don’t know Olive one that
might be able to mean that that that
person is a really funny person they
have a lot of jokes they’re never
serious about life so recovery model is
about no judgement that a person who has
mental illness still has life still has
a soul so it goes to successful Plan C
so what is my speech about for
successful Plan C it’s about Plan C
being better than any plan a that
finding meaning is about knowing
yourself and pushing forward for all the
things that you actually desire having a
mental illness taught me to separate my
negative feelings that might have
spurned into a life that I didn’t want
and turn and turning into this person
that I really did want to be I kept
track of all my symptoms and
understanding all the things that go on
within myself but these things are
easily done and are done by everyone who
doesn’t have a mental illness you have
to figure out who you are to be able to
move forward and it’s that’s a lot about
self-care which is something in the the
industry that is it’s very important to
take care of yourself before you could
take care of another person or else
you’re just you know putting the oxygen
mask on the kid and then you don’t have
a sausage in Madison and you just gone
so I wanted to talk about what my life
is now compared to what that plan a is
now my mental illness which I thought
was a dead-end path has become my
greatest credential to be able to help
other people who have mental illnesses
I started influence the mental health
field in Los Angeles by going to
speaking engagements like this one at
conferences
eating’s at every everything i started
showing up to meetings that
professionals and directors of different
mental health agencies went to I started
inspiring other people to go to these
meetings as well I actually became a
co-chair of a you DMH sanctioned
subcommittee that helped people have
mental health treatments that were based
on cultural identity so it’s called the
API you SCC cultural committee it’s
right there API you SCC and it has
$100,000 each year for a project and I
am incremental in helping to design
those projects so that people who are of
Asian descent have cultural appropriate
services for mental health in Los
Angeles so I just wanted to tell
everyone that you have infinite options
in life even if you have no options at
all you’re able to do something whatever
you want to do if you really love it and
you don’t have to sacrifice everything
for a plan a you don’t have to compare
yourself for anything in a plan a
through a successful plan see I found my
life’s calling and I started helping
those people and I decided to discover
that there’s so many ways to live there
are just too many ways they can live
your life especially when you start
knowing and understanding yourself and
now after people have been a rock for me
in my life I started to understand that
I could be a rock for other people so if
people needed to talk I would hear them
out if people were lost I would be there
so that they have somewhere to belong if
they’re alone I will sit there with them
and I am there if they need to share
something that is a deep dark secret
which we all have if they want me to
share that I’ll share something with
them so my definition of a person who
can do a successful Plan C or just move
forward in their life being honest with
themselves and knowing themselves people
can find who they are in even dark times
dark times actually allow you time to be
able to find yourself people can find
meaning even when they think the whole
world doesn’t even care about them
and sometimes people just need someone
to understand and believe in them be a
friend family social worker and they
need to know that they need someone to
let them know that the world can be a
really crappy place and if they weren’t
there it would be drastically different
and I realized that there is no one on
this planet that is exactly like one of
you guys there is no one you are special
and you are irreplaceable and you are
the only one that can show this world
just who you are and what you believe in
only you can do that no one else it is
your responsibility so I want to end
this with this a mr. Rodgers quote
someone I really loved when I was
younger and I still look now if you
could only sense how important you are
to the lives of those you meet how
important you can be to the people you
may never even dream of there is
something within yourself that you leave
at every meeting with another person so
hopefully you guys go out there and be
awesome thank you very much for this opportunity
Please follow and like us: