My Captain's Log

Navigating The Stormy Waters Of Fatherhood

Menu
  • About Me
  • About The Captain
  • Contact Me: Let’s Tell Your Story
  • Privacy Policy
  • Recent Posts
Menu

Testing. Testing. One. Two. Three?

Posted on March 26, 2012 by captaincreed

Captain’s Log.  Daddy Chronicles.  Diaper Date 1652.  Sunday morning I watched an interview with Reid Hoffman (of LinkedIn fame).  He said something that stuck with me.  He said that he is in a state of permanent beta.

 Image

Beta (in techno terms) means still testing, not finished, incomplete.  He continued to say that despite being a billionaire he was not a finished product. 

 

Huh. 

Give me a billion dollars and I will be just about any finished product you want.  But I think I may get what he means.  Actually, this reminds me of fatherhood.  You work out the bugs and you expect more to come, but you don’t stop rebooting, updating, improving. 

Until I was a father, I never:

  • Combed hair into a ponytail.
  • Dressed in a boa and tiara.
  • Shoveled a dead cat out of my street because I was afraid my kid would see it. 
  • Drove to work listening (and singing along) to a Little People sing a long CD only to realize I had already dropped my kids off at daycare.
  • Knew that Briar Rose and Sleeping Beauty were the same person.
  • Intentionally looked for poop or choreographed a dance to celebrate its arrival.
  • Sat in a hospital holding the hand of an 8 week old then driving home to be with his 3 year-old sister. 
  • Contemplated the safety features of the passenger seats of a car.
  • Thought of creative ways to remove stickers from the walls.
  • Looked at my house, or any other for that matter, as baby/child proof. 
  • Learned the power a pack of fruit snacks can have over an afternoon. 

It is one thing to be a kid.  It is another thing to have kids.  You go from thinking the world revolves around you to knowing that some small worlds not only revolve around your guidance, but depend on your very well being.  You go from thinking you may be all that matters to realizing a lot of what you thought mattered simply doesn’t. 

Most importantly, you learn that mistakes don’t lead to disappointment.  They lead to wisdom and understanding…provided you don’t continue to repeat them. 

Hoffman was right on a number of accounts.  You have to continuously invest in yourself.  No matter what you accomplish, you can’t think of yourself as a finished product.  My grandfather always said, “You learn something every day.  The day you stop learning is the day you die.”  I never asked him if he meant this literally or metaphorically.  But does it really matter.  The point is pretty clear. 

Keep learning. 

Or as Hoffman put it – stay in perpetual Beta mode.  Keep striving.  Never consider yourself complete. 

So, does this make me a liar if I still tell Mrs. Captain, “You complete me?”

Captain Out. 

The Captain sets sail for Spring Break 2012 in a matter of days.  Come join the fun and bring a friend.  If we make you smile feel free to share the link.  J

Here are some other things you can do:

Vote for the Captain on Babble

Like the Captain on Facebook

Follow the Captain on The Twitter @acjlist

2 thoughts on “Testing. Testing. One. Two. Three?”

  1. techsavvybutterfly says:
    April 2, 2012 at 12:55 pm

    Really, really well stated.

    Reply
    1. poopdeckcapt says:
      April 2, 2012 at 1:13 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Do you “Like” The Captain?

Do you “Like” The Captain?

My audition for the new Most Interesting Man in the World. Actually, it's just me sitting by the fire waiting for the power to come back.

A photo posted by Creed (@captain_creed) on Apr 4, 2016 at 11:47am PDT

Recent Posts

  • Space Jam – A New Legacy
  • Quiet But Not Absent
  • 5 Ways Comics Improve Reading

Archives

  • July 2021
  • March 2021
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • December 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
I'm speaking at Dad 2.0 summit!
© 2022 My Captain's Log | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme