C.C. Chapman

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Don't Quit Lessons for Sons in a Digital World

Being a Dad has always come with a whole bunch of challenges. That is part of being a parent. Last night Dylan was complaining that he had gotten stuck on a video game he was playing and he wanted to start over from the beginning. We had a talk about how this was quitting and I didn't want him to do that. I reminded him that he would eventually get back to this spot and get stuck again so why not push through it, figure it out and he'd feel much better about it.

Dylan Self PortraitNow this is just a video game I know, but at the same time I believe that even little decisions in life can effect how you make bigger ones down the road.

So, when he ended up deleting the game profile and going back to the beginning it really bugged me. Maybe more then it should?

I have a vivid memory of being on a camping trip with my family and my dad wanting me to roll up the tent. I couldn't get it right, but he told me I was going to do it until I did it right. I was mad, angry and overly frustrated. But, to this day I think about that one little memory whenever I think about quitting anything.

The difference is that it felt really weird saying "no Dylan, you can't quit until you shoot your way out of this alien space ship so you have to keep playing."

Those words went through my head but I couldn't exactly say them. It's a brave new world, but one hell of a confusing one sometimes as well.