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).

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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.

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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.

Yours,

Joshua Idegbere.

This article was originally published by Joshua Idegbere on medium.