Good Sports

by Budd Glassberg

Reprinted with permission from the Zionsville Times Sentinel on August 2, 2006

Some Thoughts on a Very Hot Run

“Pleasure usually comes when called, but not happiness.” – Mason Cooley

Sunday was excruciating. It was hot and humid even at 5:20 AM as I ran in the dark on the rail trail. Later, once the sun was up, there was a little relief in running in Starkey Park’s shade, but sweat was the order of the day and I really felt the heat. By 10:00 AM I had started my final loop around the park. I certainly could have stopped sooner instead of pushing through a high mileage day. The more than four decades of running experience has taught me that the discomfort will stop as soon as I stop running, but the benefits of the difficult run will remain long after the run comes to an end. I liken this phenomenon to the difference between pleasure and happiness.

Pleasure is immediate. It is a good feeling….. now. It is that amusement park ride, that taste of ice cream, skiing down a mountain, or any one of a myriad of joys we experience in the moment. Pleasure is desirable, however it is fleeting. While we may have fond memories of pleasurable events, it is not possible to bring back that same emotion that we had while experiencing the event. Happiness, on the other hand, often comes not from a pleasurable experience, but instead surprisingly, happiness may come from some form of work of deprivation. For example, if pleasure comes from eating a piece of chocolate cake, happiness comes to the dieting person the day after refraining from eating the treat. To the person attempting to lose some weight, immediate pleasure actually causes longer term unhappiness. The happiness may come to the dieter in lost weight and a better feeling of health. It is longer lasting and more satisfying than pleasure.

Children are pleasure seekers. Most have trouble with the delayed gratification that comes with actions that promote happiness. When their path to pleasure is blocked in any way, a tantrum is not far behind. As children mature, some learn the “work before play” paradigm that leads to happiness. The high school student who forgoes the pleasure of a get-together with friends to begin a term paper early experiences the happiness which eludes the student beginning the paper the night before it is due. The procrastinator’s pleasure seeking caused his unhappiness both in that feeling of doom in the back of his mind during the weeks of stalling and later in the panic of writing the paper with too little time to do a good job.

Surprisingly, some people do not associate the seeking of pleasure with their unhappiness despite the many times life has tried to teach it to them. As rational human beings, it seems very obvious that we should do things which promote happiness and avoid things which cause unhappiness. Yet it is often the case that we continually repeat the same mistakes giving in to the pleasures of the moment at the cost of future happiness. Sometimes it takes a chance occurrence to demonstrate to us the positive effects of delayed gratification. I know from my experience that once that association is made, it is very easy to forego pleasure for the good feeling which will come later with a kind of satisfaction with which no pleasure can compete.

That brings me back to Sunday’s run in the heat. The intensity of my feeling of accomplishment at this moment is a multiple of the discomfort I experienced during my training run. I am basking in the pride of knowing how I succeeded despite such difficult conditions. This gives me confidence that I am able to handle a difficult situation in a positive way. The contentment and confidence I am now feeling cannot be attained through pleasure. I am so glad I didn’t stop early. This feeling is positively worth the extra time I ran in the heat.

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.