Philly McMahon believes that when you find the thing which enthuses you in life, it's the road you should follow.
What gives McMahon that 'buzz' is helping others on their journey. He wants to provide those growing up in disadvantaged areas, like he did in Ballymun, with the support he did not have in times of need.
The Dublin footballer is setting up a charity to help empower young people.
I'm setting up a charity for youths that have low self-esteem. We're trying to empower youths in socially disadvantaged areas and help drug addicts and create drug awareness. I have a couple of people helping me out with that and that's because of the Dublin [GAA] network. It's great to have that and you don't take that for granted.
The charity, provisionally, is going to be called 'Half-Time'. It's a reference to how the break in a game is a chance to turn things around. There are similar opportunities in life.
In 2012, McMahon's brother died from a heroin overdose. The experience of seeing people around him struggle with drug addiction has shaped his life. Had he not been exposed to such tragedy, the Ballymun player believes he may also fallen into an existence filled with drug abuse.
From an young age I've been exposed to seeing people in my family that were on drugs and people around my area who were on drugs. In a way, it's shaped who I am and what I want to do. I actually get a really good buzz out of trying to help people. It's something that's developed over the last year and a half. 2012 I would have developed a pilot scheme to do help 18 - 24-year-olds. The drug addiction thing has really come to light over the last year.
Once you find the thing that gives you a buzz in life, I think that's the thing you should be chasing. That's, for me, helping youths and drug addicts.
It doesn't feel like an obligation, it's something that I enjoy doing. I was very lucky because my brother was on drugs when he was younger, I was lucky that I was exposed to that. If I wasn't exposed to that, would I have been on drugs? Probably, because all my friends were. It's definitely not an obligation, it's the way it's shaped me - my area and who I've grown up with.
I think, now, it's trying to help others in my brother's memory because that's what it's about. I didn't - my family didn't - have the support there going through what my brother went through and my family went through. I want to give that back, to youths, to drug addicts.
Football certainly played a part in preventing the 28-year-old from taking the same choices as his brother but ultimately it was his sibling's struggles which influenced his life choices more than anything else.
It was a part of me not going down that route. I think I always weigh decisions based off pain and pleasure. Seeing my brother going through pain made me stay in sport - my pleasure was sport. Drug addiction, I suppose, is based around that. A lot of people that are struggling with mental health issues will look for drugs as being their way out. They will look for drugs to be that pleasure that kills the pain. I was very lucky that my brother went through that. Did he go through it for me not to be on drugs? Definitely not. He definitely gave me a vision of something I didn't want to go through.
Initially, the charity will set up in Ballymun but McMahon has grander ambitions - he wants to help people all over the country. So, should certain programmes prove a success, it is the aim to branch out.
We're setting it up at the minute and we've done a few fundraisers. We're going to trial a couple of programmes. We're talking to a couple of organisations and looking at programmes they're doing. We're definitely looking at developing a fitness institute.
We're talking about people who are struggling with the law, education, bereavement, their sexuality - all these things that people need help in, who maybe don't feel comfortable going to bigger organisations. Using the local role model is going to help massively. That's what I'm trying to do in Ballymun. We're then going to try to branch it out - if certain programmes work - to other areas in Dublin and ultimately I would love it to be a nationwide thing that we can come up with methods to try help people.
As an example, he tells of a programme which he helped run four years ago. 20 individuals in their late teens and early 20s took part in a fitness class lasting 20 weeks. At the beginning, communication was a problem. By the time it had finished, he says they were teaching each other. Many of those involved went on to find employment or enter education.
In 2012, we had a girl who was struggling with bereavement. She was struggling to get a job. What we did was bring these 20 people in, 18 - 24-year-olds and they wouldn't speak two words to each other. We tried to empower them through doing fitness classes and at the end of the 20 weeks, they were actually teaching each other. We just used the tool of a fitness class to get them to communicate. At the end of it, it was successful because many of them went on to further education and employment. They were all empowered and their confidence was really good. Their self-esteem was boosted.
That not only saves money for the government, it drops mental health problems down, it drops suicide rates down. It has a knock on effect to their siblings, they're looking at their sister or brother and thinking 'I can actually do that'. That's what happens, I believe siblings shape each other. My brother shaped who I am.
Dublin players Sinead Goldrick (Ladies Football) and Philly McMahon (Football) were at Portmarnock Beach today to promote AIG Insurance’s offer of a 10% discount when travel insurance is bought online. Go to www.aig.ie or call 1800 344 455 for a quote.
