After I read about Bruce Jenner, I couldn’t help but think about how courageous he is. Winning the decathalon, with the label of the World’s Greatest Athlete, carried with it life long notoriety and security. He could have stayed in his comfortable box signing authographs and collecting adoration. But he didn’t. He stepped out and proudly proclaimed his truth to the world.

My son has a learning disability that makes reading and writing very difficult. He attends Sunday school, and after class the parents and kids meet in the church for family mass. This Sunday after class he showed up with a piece of paper, a big smile, and said I’m going to read this in church. I asked to see what he had written but he refused holding the paper tight by his side. The time came, and I was nervous for him. He got up there, looked at his paper for a few seconds to decipher what he had written, and bam there it was: “Today [long pause], we give thanks [long pause] for Grandparents.”

He walked back to his seat, looked at me, and said: “I did it Dad. I read the whole thing without any help.”

I smiled, and proudly said: “Yes, you did. You sure did Bud.” I then sat down, and thought: Today I give thanks for the courageous people, like you and Bruce, who are shining examples for the rest of us.

Timothy Velner is a husband, father, attorney and author living in Minneapolis. You can follow his daily blog – a series of discussions between the worry-self and the present-self at – thespiritualgym.me