the man who kept on and kept on

A cautionary tale.....


There once was a man for whom performing and achieving were like eating a good meal. When he took on a project and did it well, he consumed the accolades and compliments in double portions of self-esteem.  He got sustenance from it. 

He knew that times were hard and people all around him were going hungry for lack of recognition and significance, and he feared starvation to come.  So he piled on—accepted more and more servings of opportunity onto his plate, shoveled in more praise and applause, against the uncertain tide of the future.  It was like sitting down to one huge, constant feast.  Soon he was gorged, gulping down requests and opportunities, stuffing them into his mouth until they ran down his chin and he could hardly breathe.  He couldn’t stop.

Before long he was violently obese and could only get around with a double-sized wheelchair.  People had to push him through doors and squeeze him into elevators, and he needed a supersized car to get around.  But every time another performance or project came along, he gulped it in--he couldn’t turn it down. 

“After all,” he said, while six people tried to cram him through the door of the Emergency Room…

“You never know when times will get lean and there will be famine.”