Skip to main content

Edition 427 – Gordon

Written by Dean Robinson.

Gordon gives everything of themself, to everything they do. If you want something done, Gordon’s the person for you.

If stuff needs to happen at the last minute, Gordon puts things they need to do for themselves on-hold, so they can help out those around them.

Saying “yes” to most people, and most things, means Gordon’s life is pretty full. Long hours, commitments outside of work and the ever present demands of family means that Gordon doesn’t have a lot of time to do the things they want to do for themselves. Well, at least it looks that way from the outside, though perhaps, Gordon is so busy being the support for others, that they don’t know what it would mean to do something for themselves.

I’m a bit worried for Gordon. There’s only so long you can go at this pace, with these saddle bags strapped to either side of you, before something breaks. When you’re flying on an aircraft, the safety warning as you’re taxi-ing for the runway is all about fitting your own oxygen mask first, before helping others. I worry that Gordon doesn’t know where their oxygen mask actually is, so busy are they fitting everyone else’s, on a daily basis.

The way I see it, Gordon is almost addicted to this level of busyness for the simple fact that, for more than two decades, this is the pace they’ve been operating at and the level of responsibility they’ve been carrying. After a while, we don’t know any different. At least, until one day, something breaks. That might be something minor, or it may be major. Let’s hope it’s not catastrophic.

My hope for Gordon is that before too long, they take a moment to stop and reflect on what they’re doing, where they’re at and the pace they’ve been running at, seemingly endlessly, for more than two decades. The fastest race cars still need to pit for tyres and fuel. Except, we’re not machinery, we’re people, and machinery can be replaced….people can’t.

This Week’s Tip

“Ever noticed, if you’ve been working at full tilt,
how you come down with an illness in the first week you’re on holidays?”