“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”. – Mary Oliver
The fleeting nature of time can leave us wondering where the years have gone. As we grow older, the days seem to fly by ever faster.
Doesn't it seem like those carefree summers of childhood stretched on forever? Yet as adults, time slips relentlessly through our fingers. Days, weeks, even years roll on with repetitive landmark dates springing up on us impossibly quicker every year. "I can't believe how quickly the year has gone!" This never happened in childhood.
Scientists confirm this is no mere perception. Studies show older people underestimate three minutes by around 40 seconds, while the young guess accurately on average.
This quickening tempo may result from life’s familiarity. Our brains record new experiences in richer detail, elongating our sense of time. But routine numbs this novelty effect.
Another theory is that we perceive time exponentially, not linearly. On an exponential scale, a year occupies far greater space early in life. So a single year to a five-year-old may feel equivalent to a decade for a 50-year-old. As the poet Mary Oliver wrote, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
How does mindfulness help?
We can bring one of the key attitudes of mindfulness to the forefront. Beginners Mind. Seeing things with a beginners mind enables us to see the novelty in every moment. This isn't far-fetched imaginative mind bender but the actual nature of reality.
This moment has never been before! It is the nature of our mind to lay patterns on objects and events. It may do so to save energy or thinking power, but the cost is high. With mindfulness we're encouraged to treat each moment anew - each breath as though we've never breathed it in before - because we haven't.
Something extraordinary happens when we open to this freshness. The part of our mind that keeps us trapped in time suddenly halts. It cannot exist in the present moment. When this type of thinking ceases then we enter life. Our thinking mind rolls like a drum until it's inevitable crescendo marks our entrance into the present moment.
The key is to cherish each moment, then to let it go, and face the next moment. As each breath graciously makes way for the next, so to does this moment. Constantly changing against this backdrop of stillness.
From our direct experience, time IS thought and thought IS time. Thoughts exist in time alone. Time exists in thoughts alone. From a certain perspective there are no moments, just this moment, always.
Although each moment may not be what we expected or hoped for, it only flowers once, so let us absorb it while we can.
Join us for the practice to find out more.
Ref: https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/why-does-time-speed-up-when-you-get-older