Perseverance - The Reading Glasses Principle

By Rick Van Arnam

Bagram, Afghanistan

On the outside legs of the Army Combat Uniform (ACU), below the knee, is a pocket. No one knows exactly for what the pocket was designed, but I can tell you from daily experience that it holds a case for glasses comfortably. In my right leg pocket, you will find my reading glasses. It is such a convenient spot for holding reading glasses that I am certain the designer must have been somewhere north of forty-seven years old and wore reading glasses, too. For those older than I, you are likely smiling, even chuckling thinking, “Van Arnam is finally accepting the inevitable – he’s getting older, too.” For those younger than me, you are probably thinking…..well, I probably don’t really want to know.

On the occasion of my 48^th birthday, which I celebrated on August 20^th, I thought about my reading glasses as a symbol that reminds me of the process of character development. Among my Eleven Principles of Character, The Reading Glasses Principle states “Character development takes time.” The accompanying question for everyone to answer, whether twenty-eight or forty-eight years old is, “How will I find contentment along the way?” That question is likely more difficult to answer at twenty-eight than at forty-eight and more difficult even at forty-eight than at sixty-eight.

I recall a day back at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina on a basic training firing range during the summer of 1985. I can go back to that moment in seconds recalling the morning summer’s humidity, the light orange Southern clay and the wooden ammunition table around which I was having a conversation with a Command Sergeant Major twenty years my senior. At Ft. Jackson, I was an infantry officer working with basic trainees and a world removed from most of my peers who were leading infantry platoons in units far more recognizable than mine. I had not been to Ranger school or been assigned overseas. There was so much I wanted to do and it felt as if these opportunities would never come to me. His advice to an impatient young lieutenant was to stick to a plan, follow the process and get yourself ready. Not the advice I wanted to hear. The problem I was having was not so much around the process or next assignment, but how was I going to find contentment along the way?

A partial answer to that question rests in accepting wisdom in action as a definition for character. I’ve often been asked what is the diference between my 2003 Aghanistan tour and my current 2010 deployment to the same theater. Half jokingly, my reply has been two words, “Reading glasses.”

Truthfully, there is a big difference in the seven years between deployments and most of the change can be rolled into the application of wisdom, or as the Army calls it, lessons learned. Organizationally or individually, we are either more or less effective based on how much of what we learned in the past, we apply in the future. This is the measure of a character’s maturity. The more wisdom applied, likely the more developed our character. And there is no gettting around this fact – with reading glasses comes approximately four and half decades of living and most of that time represents learning opportunities.

I thought of this principle as I read about Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim earlier this year when his team was ranked near the top of the college basketball polls. Boeheim is the longtime coach of the Orange and a 1966 graduate of Syracuse University. I grew up an hour north of Syracuse in the 1970’s where following SU basketball is what one did in the winter. Before the Carrier Dome, Syracuse played in Manley Field House and had enviable regular seasons records, but struggled annually in the post season. Then came the Carrier Dome, larger tournaments and greater expectations. But the the knock on Boeheim remained; his teams could not shoot free throws down the stretch or win the really big games. Attendance at the Dome soared past 30,000 when rivals visited and Boeheim’s future was secure anchored by twenty-win seasons and his deep Syracuse roots despite disappointing fans each March.

Slowly, a funny thing happened began to occur. Under Coach Boeheim and along the way to 829 wins – Syracuse began to win in the post season. In 1987, Boeheim’s eleventh season as head coach, Syracuse made their first Final Four appearance. That year, the Orangemen (later the nickname was shortened to Orange) lost to Indiana in the championship game on a Keith Smart basket with seconds remaining. Nine years later, Boeheim guided his team to the Final Four and the championship game for the second time where they lost to Kansas. In both appearances, Syracuse was not favored to win and did not.

But even with the losses, Boeheim’s reputation was growing favorably. He had coached two teams to the Final Four and he had established Syracuse as a national power. His next trip to the Final Four would come sooner than his previous. In his twenty-sixth year as head coach, he guided a Carmelo Anthony led-team to the championship game where Syracuse beat Kentucky – an achievement that seemed impossible during the Manley Field House days in the late 1970’s.

Talk about wisdom in action – by the 2009-2010 season, Coach Boeheim surpassed 825 wins and is widely recognized as a master of the two-three zone defense. His name is now spoken of in the same conversations with other great coaches that include famed Duke coach Mike Krzyzewki with whom he is serving as an assistant coach for Team USA in the FIBA World Championships currenlty underway. Next to his 829 wins are 293 losses which likeky add as much or more to the lessons learned as the victories. And therein lies most of the contentment – whether wining or losing – it is not the current tally that matters as much as how much a person applies from what is learned on both sides of the win – loss column.

RVA