Good Sports

by Budd Glassberg

Reprinted with permission from the Zionsville Times Sentinel on May 16, 2007

Be the Change You Wish for the World

Dewey had the schpilkes. My mother’s father had an incurable desire to always be moving. Going somewhere else, anywhere else, was the uncontrollable compulsion that permeated his life. His genes skipped a generation and were awarded to me. It is my challenge to overcome this force and harness the kinetic energy to try to make something positive out of it.

The craving begins with a pull to have a destination. Once the destination is established, there is a certain calmness that surrounds me. Going on the road in a car, bicycle, or walking satisfies a primal need to move. In my youth, the desire was not just the motion, but it had to be as fast as possible. I have since conquered that obsession. I have learned that the journey is more important than the destination. It is no longer important to me that I get to work five minutes sooner. I have found great pleasure in walking to and from work. Driving to a vacation place is always preferable to me than flying.

I understand that not everybody feels the way I do about travel, but many seem to want to rush from point A to point B. You may want to ask yourselves honestly, “In what useful way am I using the time that I save by rushing around from place to place?” If you find that you are always in a hurry out of habit rather than lack of time, you might want to look carefully at your routine.

The reason I am discussing this stems from my observation of the manic drivers on our interstate highways and how much precious fuel is wasted by the driving habits of these people. I was recently passed by a long bed pickup truck which was traveling at a speed in excess of 80 mph. The truck bed was empty. I don’t know the motives behind the driver’s need for speed, but that kind of speed seems excessive. I do know what driving in that way used to do to my blood pressure. The unwarranted state of intensity caused my blood pressure to soar. That alone was reason enough for me to drive slower. Fuel consumption, with the price of gas these days is another excellent reason to slow down.

On a recent drive to Chicago on Interstate 65, instead of driving 70 mph, I set the cruise control to 60 and got to my father’s apartment 30 minutes later than when driving the speed limit. Interestingly, my gas mileage for the trip averaged 27 miles per gallon versus 20 miles per gallon when driving at the speed limit. That represents a 35% fuel savings or about $1.07 per gallon at today’s prices. Perhaps the next time you find yourself complaining about gas over $3 per gallon, you might consider that by slowing down and wasting less gasoline, your effective cost of travel could be cut considerably.

It is difficult to attach a value to arriving at your destination with a relaxed and calm demeanor. I have found that the journey is much more tranquil when I was not anticipating getting around the next truck or constantly changing lanes to allow a speed maniac to pass me.

There will be times when I am pressed for time and cannot commute in a relaxed way. My goal is to keep those times to a minimum. Each of us has a responsibility to conserve precious fossil fuels for future generations. We also have a responsibility to ourselves and others to travel in a safe way. If you find yourself impatient when traveling, you might want to experiment with how slowing down can improve your life. Like the pebble in the pond, this small change can have ripple effects for all those around you. As Mahatma Gandhi put it so well, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world”.

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.