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General session speaker Chris Gardner says that he’s often asked how he became homeless. Was it drugs? Was it alcohol? No, he says, “It was life. Which is often just as lethal.”

But life wasn’t enough to keep him down, as you know if you've read his book or seen the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness." He gives the credit to his mother, who, he says, told him he could be or do anything he wanted. She told him once, “Baby, if you want to, someday you could make a million dollars.” He says that before she said it, it never crossed his mind that he could earn that much money. After she said it, he absolutely believed he could. It was just a question, he says, of “finding the right venue.”

It’s amazing how much we close ourselves off from possibilities without even realizing it. Chris Gardner’s story is amazing, but I think one of the most amazing parts is his mother—not just her faith in him, but also her ability to see possibilities and open his mind to them.