It was my pleasure last week to visit sunny Orlando Florida to provide my keynote address, “When Generations Collide Ego’s Get Hurt” for the Annual Ryan White HIV/AIDS Conference.

I am certain if you think back you will remember Ryan White as a 13-year old boy from Kokomo, Indiana, who contracted HIV through a tainted blood transfusion needed to treat his hemophilia. Ryan’s case drew national attention not because of his medical condition; unfortunately, little was known at the time about the risks associated with our blood supply so, as it turns out, his case was not that rare.

It was not because of his medical condition but what he did once being diagnosed that mattered.  Ryan White gained national attention because of his innate leadership skills and human desires to simply (forgive me) “Get Out of Bed and Go to Work!” Despite being given only six months to live, all Ryan wanted to do was live a normal life. “It was my decision to… go to school; be with my friends and enjoy day to day activities…”

Though doctors said he posed no risk to other students, AIDS was poorly understood at the time and when Ryan tried to return to school, many parents and teachers in Kokomo rallied against him. Over 117 parents (from a school of 360 total students) and 50 teachers signed a petition encouraging school leader’s to ban Ryan from school. When Ryan returned to school for one day in February 1986, 151 of 360 students stayed home. He also worked as a paperboy and many of the people on his route canceled their subscriptions, believing that HIV could be transmitted through newsprint.

The insults and threats to Ryan and his family continued and escalated until finally, they moved to another town in Indiana. Throughout, Ryan and his family never lost their enthusiasm for their cause; the simple right to “Get Out of Bed and Go to Work!” Ryan said it best: “Lucky for me my mom taught me to be brave; keep going; don’t ever give up; be proud of who you are and never feel sorry for yourself.”

When doing research prior to my speaking engagement I was shocked to learn that Ryan White, had he lived, would today be a 37 year-old man smack in the middle of the Generation X revolution. He would be consumed, like all of us, with day-to-day life; making a living; raising a family and concerned about the future.

In my mind, Ryan was forever young and his story represented a tragic waste of opportunity; a life that didn’t happen. And therein lies the lesson. Since then, an entire Generation has come about; the Millennials and all others to follow will benefit from Ryan’s heroism and fight to simply do the normal things in life; to “Get Out of Bed and Go to Work!”

Today, the federally mandated Ryan White Care Act provides more than $2-Billion in annual funding as a “payer of last resort” for care and drug assistance programs. The care, treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS has progressed to the point that it can take a back seat to other new medical conditions that will need and find their own Champion’s.

After all, “an idea is worth nothing if it has no Champion!” This prevalent quote has been too often repeated to be attributed to any one source. The challenge of finding Champions is also too often repeated to be attributed to any one source. Who will be the Champion’s for the future?

Today, in my mind, Dementia and Depression are much like HIV/AIDS was in the 1980’s. Mis-understood and carrying with them a stigma that can be a barrier to treatment.

As a national speaker, EnterTrainer and Consultant of Common Sense I bill myself as an Expert in Workplace Culture Change and Generational Conflicts. These are accurate descriptions but more importantly; I hope to offer shared experiences of emotional and cognitive nurturing by “speaking to individuals while EnterTraining large groups.”

I can’t teach anyone how to technically improve as a Nurse; a Physician; an Engineer or Leader. You must do these things yourself, through research, peer review, mentoring, coaching and hard work. But I can, as a speaker, encourage those around you, and YOU yourself, to “Get Out of Bed and Go to Work!” and, TO BECOME A CHAMPION FOR WHATEVER CAUSES YOU SEE OR FIND. If you don’t do it who will?

Remember, in his own words Ryan White was “lucky” because, “my mom taught me to be brave; keep going; don’t ever give up; be proud of who you are and never feel sorry for yourself.”

Be a Champion; do it for Ryan!