Going for gaps that exist

By:  March 21, 2016 Categories: 

56 years ago today, Ayrton Senna was born. If you ever watched the 2010 documentary ‘Senna‘, you might realise how inspirational the man was.

One example. When Ayrton Senna collided with Alain Prost at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix in 1990, both retired from the race, ensuring Senna his second title in Formula 1.

Afterwards, three-time Formula 1 World Champion Jackie Stewart questioned Senna’s racing ethics, saying he was willing to take risks other drivers wouldn’t. Senna simply replied: “If you no longer go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver.”

That’s as true for racing drivers, as it is for anything you do. In life or work, many opportunities come by, equivalent to gaps in motor racing. Whilst it might be the fastest way to a stressful life, for me, going for gaps that exists is the only way.

Latest

Travel plugs

Travel plugs

In our new house, many appliances still get their power through a travel adapter. Eight years in China was long enough to not only put down roots and settle in, but also for everything we owned to end in a Chinese plug: my MacBook, the coffee machine, the rice cooker, the baby monitor. The appliances […]
September 21, 2026
Twenty-three years

Twenty-three years

In June we moved back to the Netherlands, six suitcases across 8000 kilometres, and after a brief spell at my parents’ place, we moved into our own home. This second move also involved putting down carpet, curtains, buying appliances and furniture — so that our new garage quickly filled with cardboard boxes and other packaging […]
August 29, 2026
Searching for meadows

Searching for meadows

Our new home in the Netherlands sits in a mundane residential area full of young families like ours. The street name comes from made (‘meadow’), still referring to a field that once lay here and now survives only in the name (just how the name Shanghai refers to a river that no longer exists). And […]
August 5, 2026
Degrees of wealth

Degrees of wealth

In eight years of living in China, taxi drivers or older colleagues loved to ask, “Which is better, the Netherlands or China?”, hoping for a single insightful answer that would explain everything. And now, back as a resident in the Netherlands, people ask the mirrored version: do I miss living in China? Neither question is […]
July 11, 2026