You’re Already Naked – So Why Not Follow Your Heart?

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He was adopted at birth with a promise—one his working-class parents were determined to keep: He would go to college.

But what happens when a child learns differently… and dreams bigger than school can contain?

In this mystery-style episode of Dyslexia Decoded, Teacher Maggie takes you on a powerful journey through the life of one of the most influential minds of our time. From adoption and academic struggles to bold decisions, beautiful design, and an unforgettable quote about living boldly—this story will challenge the way you see dyslexia, education, and success itself.

Spoiler alert: He didn’t fit in. He didn’t finish college.

He didn’t code…

But he did change the world.

And the way he thought? It might sound a lot like your child—or even you.

✨ Tune in for a story of vision, resilience, and the quiet strength of thinking differently.

Thank you for listening to Dyslexia Decoded! Remember, every journey begins with a single step, and progress always beats perfection.

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and if you found this story inspiring, please share it with someone who might need to hear it.

Until next time, stay strong, stay curious, and stay fearless. 💚

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Hey friend, you've landed ondyslexia, decoded.
This is a podcast, but today Iam recording a video as well
that I'll probably post onYouTube.
I'm in a new office.
and I just felt inspired torecord as well, even though I
feel like it puts on so muchmore pressure.
I'm excited you're here.
If you don't know much aboutdyslexia, decoded.

(00:25):
This is a podcast where I talkabout dyslexia and other
learning disabilities.
I want to support parentsteachers and individuals living
with dyslexia just like me.
once a month I like to do anepisode where we talk about.
People with dyslexia who've doneamazing things with their lives.
And I call this dyslexiaunveiled or mysterious, right?

(00:48):
So I'll keep, who the person isa secret till the end, although
I think there's way too manyclues in this episode.
I have a.
Feeling you'll guess before Itell you.
But thank you for joining me,and I'm excited to share this
story all about beautifullywired minds.
I am your host teacher, Maggie,and today's episode.
So is special because this onebegins with a promise, not a

(01:12):
promise made in a courtroom, nota legal formality, but a deeply
personal vow made by a youngcouple who didn't have much
except love.
They were the kind of people whoworked with their hands, who
fixed things, who made do, theycouldn't offer wealth or

(01:32):
prestige or degrees on the wall,but when they adopted a baby
boy, they looked his birthmother in the eyes and said, we
will send him to college.
This was the only request thebirth mother had.
He had another adoption lined upwith a very well-to-do family.
And it fell through last minute.

(01:54):
this family had been trying toadopt for a long time.
They couldn't have children oftheir own and their heart so
desperately wanted to raise achild.
And, at his adoption theypromised, that they would do
everything in their power, theywould make sure he made it to
college.
So that was the promise.

(02:14):
Now, as an adoptive parent, my.
Self.
I know that moment when you are,when you embrace a child who
wasn't born to you, but wasmeant for you, you wanna give
them everything.
Thing.
Now, as an adoptive parentmyself, I know that moment when
you embrace a child that wasn'tborn to you, but was always

(02:38):
meant for you, I will neverunderstand the sacrifice that
parent made and it will never belost on me.
The incredible gift that I'vereceived there's such a
magnitude to raising a child,being called mama.
By a child that I didn't givebirth to.
it's such a privilege andadoption itself has such a

(03:00):
reflection to the gift thatChrist has given us when he's
adopted us into his family, Ijust hope to honor this.
Opportunity, well, to honor mychildren and their birth family
and, and the life that I givethem.
And as adoptive parent, there isso much pressure.
I mean, as a parent you wannagive them everything.
You want them to have the thingsthat you didn't have, And you

(03:23):
carry the weight of the promisesyou have made, whether they were
spoken or unspoken.
So this boy grew up with thatpromise wrapped around him like
a thread.
He was deeply loved, he wasdeeply curious, but school was
tough.
He didn't fit in the way othersdid.

(03:45):
He didn't just think outside thebox.
He questioned why the box evenexisted.
He got in trouble forquestioning everything.
Reading and sitting.
Still didn't come easily.
But his brain never stopped.
He saw the world in patterns andcolors and big picture

(04:07):
connections.
It made teacher uncomfortable.
He asked too many questions.
I.
He wasn't trying to bedifficult.
He was trying to understandWell, he did make it to college.
The promise was fulfilled, butonce he got there, he felt lost.

(04:28):
He couldn't justify burningthrough his parents' life
savings.
This was everything they hadcarefully tucked away to help
meet his dream of going tocollege when he wasn't even sure
why he was there.
So he did something bold.
He dropped out.
Not because he didn't care,because he did.

(04:51):
He didn't wanna waste moneychasing someone else's version
of success.
Still.
He stayed on campus.
He crashed on friend's floors,slept on the floor of dorms,
collected soda cans for sparechange and wandered into classes
he wasn't even registered for.
One of those classes that hewould crash would be

(05:12):
calligraphy.
Now the skill of calligraphy hasno clear job prospects attached.
There was no application totechnology, just beauty.
There was lines, curves, space,meaning tucked between strokes
of ink.
And years later, that classwould shape the typography of

(05:36):
the world's first personalcomputer because his brain had
always been drawn to the spacebetween things.
The beauty and simplicity, theelegance of less.
He went on to build a companyfrom a garage, But he wasn't an
engineer.

(05:57):
He didn't even know how to code.
A lot of people assumed that hewas coding the programs they
were creating, but he wasn'ttrained in a traditional.
Sense in technology.
He was something entirelydifferent.
He was a visionary.
He was a dreamer.
He believed technology should bebeautiful, that computers could

(06:20):
be intuitive, that people didn'tneed to adapt to machines.
That machines could adapt topeople.
Oh, imagine if he could see theapplication of AI Right now.
He was eventually fired from hisvery own company.
It was public.
It was painful, but he didn'tgive up because he knew his

(06:44):
greatest asset wasn't what heknew, but how he thought.
So He once stood on a stage atStanford delivering a graduation
speech to students on a paththat he himself once walked away
from.
This whole speech is availableon YouTube.
I recommend you check it out'cause it's incredibly

(07:06):
inspiring.
He said this, lemme make sure Ihave it up.
your time is limited, so don'twaste it.
Living someone else's life,don't be trapped by dogma, which
is living with the results ofother people's thinking.
Don't let the noise of others'opinions.

(07:29):
Drown out your own inner voiceand most important, have the
courage to follow your heart andintuition.
They somehow already know whatyou truly want to become.
Everything else is secondary.
and then he added this,remembering that you are going

(07:51):
to die is the best way I know.
To avoid the trap of thinkingyou have something to lose, You
are already naked.
means vulnerable.
There is no reason not to followyour heart.
You are already stripped ofguarantees of approval of the

(08:15):
illusion of safety.
Why not go all in?
Why not live with boldness?
Why not follow the way yourbrain was meant to work?
So who was this adopted sonwith?
The impossible vision?
The college dropout.

(08:37):
Who honored his parents' promiseby choosing a life of meaning,
the rebel who imagined whatothers couldn't see.
The man who made beauty, usableand difference brilliance.
You've probably used hiscreation today, unless you're on

(08:58):
the other team, Android.
his name was Steve Jobs.
Oh, yay.
I love his story.
He's so inspiring.
He has so many quotes that justmake you stop and think, and
just the way his brain workedand the simplicity and the
beauty he saw in things, itinspires me.

(09:22):
So thank you for taking thisjourney with me.
I hope today's story remindedyou that differently wired minds
don't need fixing.
They need unleashing.
That being adopted doesn't meanbroken.
It means chosen that droppingout doesn't mean failure.

(09:42):
It can mean finding your way,and that sometimes the things we
see as setbacks are just thebeginning of something world
changing.
Thank you so much for joining meon this episode.
The dyslexia decoded.
If the story moved you, pleaseshare it with someone who needs
a reminder of their worth, anddon't forget to subscribe so you

(10:07):
don't miss our next journey intothe beautifully wired minds of
those who learn differently.
Until next time, I'm teacherMaggie and I see the world
differently just like you.
Let's keep decoding.