My friend Sarah Kirby, who recently won the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Early Childhood Education, shared something last week. She said she once attended a training session with a professional speaker. He told a story about a dad who gave his young son’s skates to another child when his son grew out of them. The son told his dad that he would have to get the skates back because he was going to be a record breaker and his skates would be needed for the Hall of Fame. His dad apologized to the other child, gave him some money to buy skates and took his son’s skates back. His son went on to become a world-famous speed skater and his skates are now on display. The dad never doubted his son. Even when he was just starting out.

That made me smile. When my 19-year-old son came to me two months ago and said he was going to run for mayor, my first question was, “Okay, what happens next?”

He did all the work, but I was there cheerleading his journey as he highlighted the importance of voter turnout and championed issues that residents raised. He stood on debate stages, knocked on doors, and spoke to media about his goals. When the polling stations closed earlier this week, although he wasn’t victorious, he had earned 1,500 votes and a life lesson that he’ll never forget.

What might happen if you take action and believe in yourself beyond reason? And what if someone else believes in you beyond reason too?

As Steve Jobs said, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

May we all follow our heart and have the courage to support those around us who are following theirs.