Good Sports

by Budd Glassberg

Reprinted with permission from the Zionsville Times Sentinel on February 22, 2006

The Cure for Impatience

“How poor are they that have not patience!” –William Shakespeare, Othello. Act ii. Sc. 3.

Every photograph taken of me from the age of two though seven always had the arm of an adult in the frame attempting to hold me still. What Grandma Glassberg called “the schpilkes”, Grandma Dewey called “no sitz fleish”. Both were old world terms for what today would be called ADHD and what my brother Bob refers to as “Hyper in the Diaper”. When my first grade teacher complained that their son Budd would not stay in his seat, my parents did not run to the doctor for Ritalin. No, my Mother’s common sense approach to my hyperactivity was simple, “If the boy has too much energy, he’s going to walk to school instead of taking the bus. He can walk home too. That ought to calm him down.” It did too. However, instead of walking to school, I ran.

Among the symptoms of my malady are ones some parents will recognize as all too familiar. To this day, I am not conscious that one leg is bouncing while I sit waiting to do something (most often if I have not exercised that day). Often, I cannot think properly unless I am pacing. It takes all my effort not to run from the car to any event I am looking forward to attending. In the past, I have had very little patience for those who move, in my mind, too slowly. Patience is the one attribute that seemed unattainable no matter how much exercise I had undertaken. Only a certain degree of maturity has recently helped me overcome my impatience with others. I had to fight it in my 30’s and 40’s, but recently I have noticed an ability to wait for others and adjust to their pace of life. I still enjoy doing things by myself at my up tempo, but I have grown to tolerate the speed at which other people do things.

I can remember my Grandfather who, even in his seventies, would rush through a meal and then get up and walk around telling everyone else who was seated not to hurry their meals. The effect of this was to make everyone seated feel like we were keeping him from leaving when he wanted to go. It is fortunate that I have not morphed into my Grandfather. I am glad that I can sit while others take their time without making them uncomfortable.

This relatively recent breakthrough of mine has allowed me to appreciate more of the things around me. I am more cognizant of the flowers in the wooded areas where I run. It is not unusual anymore for me to stop to look at something interesting rather than rush past it. Where I used to be in a hurry to get somewhere and when I got there found myself in a hurry to get to the next place, I now take my time and enjoy the journey without regard to the destination. Perhaps it is not so surprising, that my change in patience came around the same time that my running times in races began to increase. As I switched from the shorter, faster races to the longer endurance runs, I found a new tolerance for taking walking breaks and enjoying the process of the event rather than my outcome in it.

It is ironic that all I had to do to make this metamorphosis come about years ago was to work on my endurance rather than speed. All of those years that I kept trying to run faster, kept me from enjoying my runs to their fullest. I am not saying that I do not enjoy running quickly sometimes. Indeed, I take great pleasure with an occasional speed workout or fast race. However, the majority of my runs now are relaxed. What’s more, I am not tired when I finish them. A byproduct of this type of running is the reduced stress on the body means a reduction of days lost due to injury. Possibly the principal benefit of endurance training to a hyperactive person is the gaining of patience.

I know the day is coming when my running wheels will wear out and walking will replace it as my primary form of exercise. While I do not wish for it to come soon, I also do not dread it. Rather than struggle with change, patience has taught me to embrace it. Aging is undeniably a natural process and one we need to befriend instead of fight.

To my fellow hyperactive brothers and sisters, be you ten years old or sixty, I wish to offer this sage advice. Slow down and go longer. Give it a few weeks and I believe you will find it to improve your exercise and other aspects of your life. As James Russell Lowell wrote in the nineteenth century,

“Endurance is the crowning quality,
And patience all the passion of great hearts.”

Budd Glassberg is a resident of Zionsville who is active in the local running community. Visit www.runz.com for reprints of all his columns. You can reach him by email at budd@runz.com.