Extremities

In our bodies and organisations, and broader society, turning potential to action happens at the extremities.

Getting blood from the heart to the extremities is an incredible piece of plumbing, moving the blood through multiple branches with minimum resistance, and along the way, converting the pulsating waves of heartbeat to the smooth flow required to get oxygen to our extremities efficiently. We can fantasise about picking up that piece of chocolate, or imagining that perfect golf shot, or carving that piece of wood all we like, but it doesn't happen until our extremities do the work of making it real.

Under pressure, we cut off our blood supply to extremities temporarily to prioritise blood supply to the brain, as anyone who has pulled high G loads, from aerobatics to rollercoasters, knows. As a result, our vision greys out, our hearing goes, and the feeling goes in our fingers and toes.

The keyword here is temporary. Leave it too long, and grey out becomes blackout becomes terminal.

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