If you’ve ever competed in a sack race, you’ll know that they’re really quite fun. It’s almost impossible not to take a tumble which adds to the fun. When I was about ten, I competed in a downhill sack race on a grassy hill in Hyde Park. I was chuffed to come in third until my homeroom teacher, Mrs. Small told me that I’d hopped down the hill on a diagonal. “You doubled your distance, Athena. And your time. Otherwise, you would have come in first.” I remember feeling embarrassed, mostly because I had no idea I’d even done that. I thought I’d come straight down the hill to my brilliant bronze. To this day, I think about that hill when I realize that I’ve added unnecessary steps in a situation, when indecision, pig-headedness and more than a soupcon of caution are getting in the way of a solution. Some people just take longer than others, I guess. Still, bronze is pretty great.