The Caveman In The Corner Office
We have all been there – trapped in one of those retirement seminars or advised about retirement investment. A kid half your age, in a suit that is too tight and a voice that’s too loud, explains your own money back to you like you are six. It is usually a great time to catch up on some sleep.
But when you wake up and look at your dashboard, the math does not match the feeling. Even when the spreadsheet says you are ‘safe,’ the act of spending what you have saved feels like a physical wound.
If you have ever wondered why, it is so hard to enjoy the ‘pile’ you spent forty years building, the answer is not in your bank statement. It is in your DNA.
The Missing Exit Ramp
Your brain is running Palaeolithic software on 21st-century hardware. Evolution never built an ‘exit ramp’ for the foraging loop. For 99.9% of human history, life was a simple, brutal cycle: Seek, Acquire, Store, Guard.
Notice what is missing? Stage 5: Enjoy. There was no biological reward for the person who decided to ‘draw down’ their stores just for fun. We are the descendants of the most paranoid, efficient hoarders in history. Our DNA says, ‘Winter is Coming,’ even when we are standing in the middle of a June heatwave.
The Digital Delusion
In the ancestral past, wealth was physical. Grain perished; meat spoiled. ‘Rot’ was the brains consumption signal – nature’s way of saying, ‘Use it or lose it.’ But digital digits do not decay. They do not smell. Because your money never visibly expires, your nervous system never receives the evolved cue that it is safe to consume. Without the smell of the rot, the ‘Guard’ instinct never turns off.
The Silver Whiplash
Let us pull over for a second. Look at the markets yesterday. Silver – the darling of 2026 – hit record highs of ₹4.2 lakh per kg before suffering a brutal 17% ‘liquidity wipeout’.
If you held silver, your heart did not just drop because of a ‘technical correction.’ Your amygdala detected a life-threatening ambush. Whether it is a prehistoric mammoth sitting on your hut or a Friday afternoon market crash, the circuitry is the same. We guard our ‘silos’ as if our lives depend on them – because for thousands of years, they did.
Check Your Mirror
If you have spent your life as ‘The Provider,’ your bank account is not just money – it is your scoreboard for competence.
Spending earned money feels like self-erasure. It feels like you are undoing the very effort that defines you. This is why I have yet to meet a single person who has died with zero. We are masters of the hunt, but novices at the feast.
We are the first generation in history asked to accumulate for decades and then suddenly flip a switch to “spend.” It’s like trying to teach a wolf to be a vegetarian overnight.
Don’t wait for the “rot” signal. It isn’t coming. The digits on your screen will stay crisp and cold long after your knees start to creak. Take a Pitstop today. Look at your ‘silo’ and realise it’s full enough. The race isn’t about who crosses the finish line with the most fuel; it’s about who enjoyed the drive.
The Rearview Reality: Stop guarding the grain. Throw the feast. You have earned the seat at the table – now, for God’s sake, start eating.
If the silver crash taught us anything, it’s that the market is a fickle god. Your memories, however, are recession-proof. Spend accordingly.
