LIFE LESSONS
An Open Letter to My Friend and Mentor
Dear sir,
You gave me much joy and confidence with your mail, titled: Free advice and worth every penny you paid. Dated 15th of June 2020. It said many good things about how much you care about me.
I am more grateful than I can put in words.
Sir, my failure and mistakes have taught me more useful lessons and forced me to learn what I may not be humble enough to. All the improvements that have lent some value to my writing are the lessons I try to live each day with patience and practice.
I humbly attribute my growth to those failures and mistakes.
Just as I have met with some failures, I have also met with some success. But each success that came my way has been a yeast to my ego.
And most of them left me with an inflated feeling of my current growth as a writer. And so appeared as though I were already doing well. Repressing the need to seek recent knowledge and skills.
Sometimes I am thankful that I have not had enough success that it becomes difficult to learn. Like a student before his master or a small man among great and unique men.
For where a great and unique man speaks, said Franz Xaver Kappus, small men should keep silent.
And what he learns at those rare moments is both for his growth and benefit — the benefit of obedience. The blessing that flows from a master to his obedient student. It a blessing that cannot be taught. Only nature impact it at the price of obedience.
Yesterday was a rare moment for me, sir. You reached down to me to offer a few “unsolicited” advice (as you call them).
Initially, it surprised me. The name was not familiar. It didn’t look like one of the writers I subscribed to receive their newsletters.
When I opened to read, your carefulness not to offend me was obvious. You were also kind enough to acknowledge my recent sharks of growth.
The tone of the content was like a father writing to a son. I felt the love and tenderness as each sentence find its way to the inner chamber of my heart.
Sir, I receive them with love. But I have one fear.
I fear it may take some time before I can completely live those pieces of advice. But I promise to learn them daily. I will learn it even with pain. Leaning on the natural growth of my inner life to lead me with time to the full comprehension of those truths.
I will paste them close to my desk where I can easily glance at them each time I sit to write.
It may take time. But not eternity. Slowly, I will grow into full maturity in living those free pieces of advice that are worth every penny.
Thanks so much, Thom.
