It Will Never Be Like This Again

“Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them.” – Dion Boucicault

Time can be a strange thing. When you are bored, seconds can drag on like hours. Conversely, if you are having fun, it zips by at blinding speed. There are two things which will always remain true about time: once it’s gone, you can never get it back and things will never be like this again.

Each moment in time has an unfathomable amount of variables associated with it. Everything from location, weather, personal age, present company, comfort level, etc. effect the present. This present is then created as memories in your mind. Due to the complexity of each scenario, these variables will never perfectly align again. Even though there are common ideas that time passes faster as you get older, studies actually show there is no difference between young and elderly peoples’ judgement around rate of time passage¹. Still, the older we get the faster time does seem to go. Research points to the fact that our brains are wired to record change². Lack of change results in fewer strong memories being formed. Unsurprisingly, phones come in as one of the largest time thieves with Americans spending 4 hours and 25 minutes a day on them. This adds up to over two months at the end of the year³.

During one study, most of the documented top regrets before death focused on time: time for self, time for friends, time for happiness, and less time at work⁴. What can we do about it? The answer is simple: become a time wizard by controlling it. If your brain records change, then create change. Be mindful of where your focus is during the day. Make time for friends and family, while providing them your full attention. Slow enjoyable moments down by taking everything in (i.e. weather, current emotions, smells, environment, surrounding energies, etc.)⁵. Create mini adventures in your day and look forward to nature’s offerings.

Time is something everyone wants more of, but is usually the worst spent. Once lost, time can never be recovered. Treat it as the precious resource it is. Enjoy every minute of it, for these minutes are your life. Then, as your journey comes to an end, look back with pride.

Action: Work to slow time this week. Savor each moment.

Hint: Mindfully ditch the tech while you spend your time.

Further Reading:

1. Passage of Time Judgments Are Not Duration Judgments: Evidence from a Study Using Experience Sampling Methodology
2. Time Flies By Faster As We Get Older. Here’s Why.
3. 2023 Cell Phone Usage Statistics: Mornings Are for Notifications
4. The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing by Bronnie Ware
5. Why our sense of time speeds up as we age — and how to slow it down