I want to share a few experiences with you and leave enough space for each one of us to draw the needed lessons. It is the authenticity of thinking that helps us do so.
We have all experienced the following:
- Spraying perfume but sooner than later the scent fades. The aroma lasts for a short time.
- You eat something that makes you feel your mouth is smelly and sometimes horrible. You want the smell to fade but it resists and lingers for a long time.
- You meet with your friends and you feel the time just running. You are all joyful retrieving old memories but soon than wanted time is up and you depart. The joy seems like perfume with its aroma lasting for a short time.
- On the other end, you are engaged in a written exam. You feel time is running away and what is left is hardly enough to answer all the questions. Once the exam is over the heaviness of worries that you did not have enough time to answer all questions properly makes time go slowly as you wait impatiently for the final result.
Time does not go faster or slower. A minute is a minute no matter what your perception of feelings is.
It is how we respond that makes time feel different. When we are happy we want time to extend to enjoy it more. It does not extend and we feel time slipped away.
When we are worried or anxious time does not go slower. It is our perception that it does because we load the seconds with heavy anxiety for fear something bad might happen.
I tend to believe that in all the previous examples our distorted perception of time results from the point of emphasis.
When we are happy we wish the time would stop and extend so that we may have fun. Instead of being in the NOW we become worried that the dawn may be gone until it is gone and we feel we did not enjoy it. The fact is we were not in it which makes us feel so.
When we are worried we focus on our worry and make it sound heavier and darker. We live the anxious moments by making them more worrying and heavier. So, we feel time is going slow.
It is about what we focus on. Do you agree?
We have all experienced, at least once in our lives, the sensation of time never passing, or, on the contrary, that of time flying without us realizing it.
A psychologist friend of mine once explained to me (vaguely) that we don’t have anything resembling a clock in our heads, but we do have a sense of time. But it originates in various parts of the brain, and is also influenced by emotions, memory and past experiences. In other words, dyschronia is created between the time we perceive and experience and the natural time of life.
In this regard, I had a strange feeling: the Internet has made things worse by eliminating dead time: we have so many possibilities that there is never enough time: we can connect to the Internet at any time to message friends, play games or find out about the latest events. In short, we have never had as much free time as we do today and yet it has never seemed like we had less of it!
Aldo Delli Paoli Great comment my friend and love the way you phrased it such as “But it originates in various parts of the brain, and is also influenced by emotions, memory and past experiences.:,
This is my thinking as well. Words and emotions are linked strongly and the words we say depending on our current situation affect our actions. I see the two well-linked, as you explained.
As for the internet and time you reminded me of the saying “he is busy doing nothing”.
The question is what percebtage of useful time we apply
Thank you for your contribution that you never fail for me.
And, moreover, each of your comments is a stimulus to other reflections that can animate the discussion.
Thinking about the final question of your comment I reflected that we are overwhelmed and motionless watching what happens, hoping that something will suddenly change, without understanding where the end of the matter lies, where we can start to untangle what appears confusing is useless. The only thing we can do is say “I don’t have time”, the mantra of the 21st century. And, insteade, we should stop and give ourselves some time to reflect and start asking ourselves some questions: What am I running so fast for? What do I want to achieve? Does what I’m doing make sense to me? When do I want to achieve it? Why do I want to achieve it? Am I wasting time on things that don’t interest me? How do I use my time?
If we can give ourselves some answers, perhaps we can transform our earthly existence into something truly worth living, starting the day, marked by the ticking of the clock, but designed and measured around us, our values, ideals, dreams, reality, challenges, fears and even obstacles.
Great comment Aldo,
I appreciate your taking the time to contribute such a beautiful comment again.
Asking the right questions in a timely manner is the gateway to success.
You asked such questions. “And, insteade, we should stop and give ourselves some time to reflect and start asking ourselves some questions:”.
Your questioms are relevant and make us pause and think ad rethink. We have no time is no excuse because if we do not ask similar questions we shall head in the wrong directions.
I agree.
Until next time.