Hurry Sickness

Unless you are familiar with coronary artery disease, you may not have heard of this term.  You probably know folks who suffer from it.  I’m one of them.  I want to get the job done whether it’s the dishes or shoveling the walks, or going on a walk or hike.  I tend to rush through things and sometimes am not too thorough. Because of this, I am not a detail person, so I find people around me that can do the details whenever possible. 

I’m not certain who came up with the phrase, but it is associated with Type A personalities.  There are other features of the latter condition, but this one fits me to a T.  Having undergone two coronary artery bypass procedures is clear evidence of my fitting the bill for Type A.  However, my last operation was 23 years ago, so I must be doing something right.  I exercise, eat well and when I was working, I came home and took a short nap at noon.

However, the Covid-19 and my age are having me to change my ways to even a greater extent.  I am currently in Colorado and between my age of 82 and the altitude I am slowing down.  This pleases my wife, Mary Ann to no end.  I have spent a lot of time in Colorado and in the past, and have taken some heavy-duty hikes at high elevations too far off destinations.  By focusing on the destination, I missed the flowers, streams and many sights along the way.  Now I’m looking at the flowers, savoring the streams and looking at the birds and animals along the way.  My wife is a wild flower person and has identified over 250 species of flowers.  Now I try to name a few, but am pleased she is along to help me identify the ones I miss.

In spite of my “hurry sickness,” over the years, I have had to come to the realization that major problems are not overcome overnight.  The elimination of polio is one example, where we still haven’t wiped it out completely.  Likewise, our work in Zambia has been going on for 17 years and we’re finally coming to the place where we can demonstrate results on reducing malnutrition. Thank goodness for our club and our District and Rotary International for supporting the project for so many years.

Now, I must hurry and get this off to Minnie to have it placed in the Spoke!