Watch that "best before" date!

I'm sure you've experienced this: you buy your favorite fresh snack in the supermarket, bring it home and keep it in the kitchen cabinet. Then something distracts you and you forget about it. You remember it again after a few days and rush to get it, only to discover it is past its "best before" date.

Question is, does this happen more broadly in life, too? Do life experiences also come with an expiry or a best before date?

My son, Yash, loves candies. I did too, when I was his age. I can still remember how my heart used to beat with excitement, making me squeal with joy, when I got one! Can I enjoy candy the same way today? Sadly, no. It is the same candy, but it doesn't taste the same, and it doesn't feel the same. Not even close. In other words, the "best before" date for me to enjoy the experience called "eat candy" has lapsed. I can still buy as many candies as I want to and even eat them, but I cannot experience them in the best way anymore. The age or date for me to do that is long gone, and I either had my fill by that time or missed the chance!

Does this apply to other experiences? I think so. I remember watching James Bond or Amitabh Bachchan movies as a kid. In my eyes as a little boy, my heroes could do no wrong and could never lose. Still, my stomach would be in knots when they were in trouble, and I would sit on the edge of my seat, fists clenched, until they beat up all the baddies, won the girl and saved the world yet again. I would give a lot to be able to experience movies today with the same wonder and hero worship, but I can't. Neither can I read my favorite spy and action book authors anymore. In fact, I haven't read fiction for many years now.

Similarly, there is a "best before" date to go to school / college prom, have a debut, a first date, a first kiss, drive a car - or even better, a bike - really fast, drink or smoke on the sly, dance the night away ... the list can be expanded. You can't do these things ten years after that date. Well, perhaps you can, but it is not the same experience anymore. Touring Europe with friends in your 20's is not the same as doing so in your 30's or 40's. It is a different experience - it might still be nice, but it is not the same.

What are the implications of this "best before" date concept? I think it is very important to be conscious of it. Think of the top 5 life experiences that are most important to you. And then ask yourself, what is the "best before" date for these experiences? If it is approaching fast, drop whatever you're doing now and bring your desired experiences into your life before the date passes you by.

Too often, we are too busy working for, saving for and investing for our "future" and keep planning for that golden age when we will finally do what we actually want to do after having removed all the constraints that prevent us from doing it today. Well, the best before date for most of our desired experiences may well be gone by then. Don't wait to grow up before you eat candy, and don't wait till your 50's to do what is best done in your 30's! So if you're waiting for your kids to go to college before you take some time off to go around the world, think again!

Of course, it may not always be within our power to make our desired experiences occur at a time of our choosing. Priorities will have to be decided, trade-offs made and we will still win some, lose some. All the more reason to be conscious of the best before dates so that we get the most out of life and its experiences. And by the way, if you're someone who is tempted by that snack that's past its best before date, don't. Just go get another one!