Dear Son,
I promised I’d write to you as often as I could—and here I am, keeping that promise. It’s been a challenging week, but I’m grateful to have made it through. I’m learning to take each day as it comes, giving my best, staying hopeful, and keeping my head up despite the bumps along the way.
This week reminded me of an important truth: it’s not always the problem itself that defeats us, but how we choose to respond to it. Our reaction often determines whether we rise above or get buried beneath. Life won’t always go according to plan. There’ll be hard times, no doubt—but your response in those moments will go a long way in shaping the outcome.
“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” – Epictetus
A positive mindset is a powerful tool—it can carry you through even the toughest seasons. I remember when I was preparing to enter university. There was a key exam I had to pass—JAMB/UTME—but by the time we decided I would write it, all the centers in my state were full. Even centers in the neighboring state were filled up. I felt defeated and was already preparing myself to wait till the following year.
I told my parents, and later that day, your grandmother came to encourage me. She looked at me and said her signature line: “There must be a way out.” That was always her response in the face of adversity. Her unwavering optimism pushed us to keep searching for a solution. Eventually, we found an available center—several states away. I agreed to travel there, and your grandmother, in true fashion, dropped everything and traveled with me all the way from Lagos to Ilorin. I wrote the exam—and I passed.
Looking back now, it’s clear how close I came to giving up. But her positivity made all the difference. If she hadn’t stepped in with that mindset, that window of opportunity might have passed me by completely. So here’s what I want you to always remember: life won’t always be rosy or smooth, and that’s okay. You will face moments that will test your strength, your patience, and your belief in yourself. But through it all, choose to respond with positivity. It might not change the situation immediately, but it changes you—and that can change everything.
Positivity is powerful. It uplifts you and those around you. It’s contagious. Your grandmother’s energy rubbed off on me, and it made a real difference. That mindset—to stay hopeful and believe there’s always a way—will serve you well throughout your life. If there’s one lasting lesson I learned from your grandma, it’s the power of hopeful thinking. She was one of the most optimistic people I’ve ever known—careful with her words, intentional with her attitude, and always quick to find the bright side, no matter the circumstance.
It saddens me that you won’t get to meet her in person—she passed away four years ago this week. But I know without a doubt that she would have adored you. Her heart was full of love, and she would’ve poured that same love into you.
So, my dear son, approach life’s challenges with a positive mindset. That doesn’t mean ignoring reality or pretending everything’s fine when it isn’t. It simply means choosing to believe that things can get better—and doing your part to make that happen.
I’ll stop here for now, but I’ll write again soon.
Always in your corner, always with love—
Dad