I Was a Runner, but I Don't Like Rushing!

I sometimes ponder the irony of the fact that I was an active runner in high school and well into my 40s and yet I hate running and rushing.

In fact, if you look up the "Go Slow" movement in a dictionary, you'd likely find my picture next to it!

In retrospect, I suppose I put up with running because it (A) served a purpose, and (B) it involved a finite and typically known period time, and (C) it was largely a solitary team sport meaning that I didn't have to be coordinated with other people while active... I might be on a team but I pretty much got to do my own thing.

Yes, I was one of those kids who would occasionally receive the commentary from teachers "does not play well with others" or some variant thereof.

It was not so much that I didn't like others, it was just that I always figured out how to do things quicker and more efficiently than the group and being with others invariably slowed everything down and I didn't see the point of accomplishing things purely as a social exercise.

Now, if we were just hanging out and doing nothing for the purpose of being together I was very cool with that!

People often made the assumption that I didn't like sports, but that was wrong. However, I mostly participtated for the purpose of getting it over with, so I could sit still and celebrate having done whatever it was we were supposed to do.

As I might have mentioned in earlier posts, I ran long distance track, I ran cross country and I played golf... all mostly solitary/individual pursuits.

I still have an intense dislike of feeling like I need to rush or be in a hurry with things.

I'm a dedicated meanderer and putterer who prefers to make his way through life at his own pace, which is typically quite slowly. Hence, I always failed miserably at all variations of so-called "grind culture."

While I was always well aware that there were people in the world who seemed to thrive on "always being busy," I always felt like ot was an utterly miserable existence... and I would go to great lengths to avoid it.

Of course, life seldom lets us have what we actually want. My ability to not rush and run has typically been limited to vacations, once every 10 years or so. Bad planning on my behalf, in the sense that I have always gravitated towards "low energy" jobs and professions that tend to pay poorly, hence seldom being able to afford to take holidays.

You get what you pay for, I suppose!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!

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Created at 2026.03.05 00:15 PST
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