Sunday 28 / April / 2024
SOMEONE I know, after wrecking his brains for months on how to spice up his life, decided to marry a second wife. I warned him that it would not be easy but he refused to listen. He argued that his life was dull and empty even though he had a very understanding wife and well-behaved children.
“What could go wrong?” He asked me,” I have already looked carefully in my finances and I can afford a second family.”
I told him it was not just about money. There are many other factors needed to be carefully planned. Dividing time between two families would not be easy but the man insisted that he was up to it. The thing that worried me most was that this man was pushing on in years. He had in mind a woman half his age.
“So what?” He looked at me as if I was the biggest fool on earth,” I am not that old and there’s nothing wrong with the department you have in mind. I can assure you it would not be overworked just because I would have two wives.”
I stopped arguing with him and wished him luck. That night, I made a mental calculation and realised that he had less than ten years until his retirement. The sad truth is that, ten years is not an awful lot of time. Many people know that retirement plans need to start early. Pensions are never enough as I keep finding out from people who are supposed to retire comfortably. Big bills make sure we will never have enough by the time we reach 65.
Yet this man was convinced that he would still be alright in his old age with a wife with many needs. Let me share with you my own secret. I am not flattering my wife but marrying a young lady half my age is not exactly my cup of tea.
It is one temptation I find easy to resist. Besides, I would not afford to keep a pretty face just to replenish my ego. On closer look, people who find hard to let go their past try to find new excitements in their lives. I agree that marrying a new wife is about performing old tricks to a new audience but you could always start playing golf instead.
Golf would not change your grey hair back to black but it could make you feel young again. However, there are wise middle-aged men who have solutions to everything. My other friend refuses to let himself caught up with middle age crisis. He buys a new car every time he needs to make himself feel young. It is cheaper and less stressful than tying another knot, or so he says.
“Getting something younger in your life need not be another human being,” he told me as he proudly patted his new car,” I have a powerful engine under this bonnet to keep me happy.”
Well, some people would argue that they need more than mechanical engines when they hit fifty. Personally, I find the various methods of injecting new excitements in your life are worth considering provided you don’t get carried away. On the other hand, who needs his engine refitted when you have a vintage sleeping next to you every night?
