The M Factor

Way too often, media (the kind that you and I consume mostly these days – whatsapp forwards, FB videos, Twitter links etc) overhypes the importance of creating memories over accumulating money, adding alongside a liberal dose of reminders about our mortality – about how when we are on our deathbed, we don’t worry about the money we made, but about the memories we didn’t !

Well, let me call the bluff – it is a big fat lie! It has been created to pander to the frail egos of middle aged men and women, who suddenly realise that maybe they have missed the bus as far as getting seriously rich goes, so might as well go create some memories…

‘Cos given the advances in science today, you and I are likely to either die a sudden and violent death – accident or murder, in which case the time left for retrospective regret is minimal, anyway; or die a slow, prolonged death – mostly due to old age, and lo and behold, associated memory loss ! So, if all those memories you created, those experiences you had, none of them, allow you to even remember where the bathroom in your house is, let alone bask in a warm fuzzy time journey – then I ask, what the F!@#$ are those memories worth? At least, if you are rich enough, you can afford to check yourselves into a 5 star care facility, while your faculties are still intact, and hope that when you have completely lost the idea of who you are, then the care giver treats you with dignity, for the simple reason that you are now the poster boy/gal for future customers – when they pay a visit. And, even then, it is just hope – and hope has never been a great strategy !  You would be surprised by the number of molestations that happen across old age homes in the country…

So, whether you want memories or money – it is your choice – there is no guarantee that one will serve you better than the other! And, despite whatever anyone else might say – creating memories is a costly affair these days – the best things in life are no longer free… Even the feel of a baby’s soft cheeks need money to be spent on baby lotions, baby food and warm clothes !

So, yes, go ahead and accumulate that retirement corpus, the vacation fund, whatever…Memories alone are not even a poor substitute.  

On a random side note I felt immensely comforted reading this: https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/03/08/cry-heart-but-never-break/

Yea, I am teaching my heart to cry, but never to break...