Q:

Meaning of "outweigh (our dreams)"

When our memories outweigh our dreams, it is then that we become old.

What's the meaning of "outweigh" here?
Does it mean that our brains cannot dream anymore, or that we cannot make dreams into real anymore?

A:

When we are young, we are full of vigor and ideals and we think about our

dreams and ambitions

there are also fewer things to look back on (our memories), but as we get older, or memories start to accumulate and begin to weigh more (metaphorically). We have also experienced life, which is not easy, and our memories may be happier than out future prospects. We may begin to

yearn for the good old days

What the sentence is saying is that our motivation to "make things happen" diminish as we get older

Eight years ago I was a young man, full of idealism and vigor, and look at me now. I'm grey, grizzled. Just counting down the days to my death panel

this may be because we no longer want to dream anymore, not necessarily because we can't.  This can be referred to as "cynicism". A person can always dream at any age, but what they do with those dreams is a different story.

