Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Thinkday – It is That Time Already?

I was driving to work this morning and realized we are nearly halfway through October. That’s right. October…almost November. I don’t know about anyone else, but I blinked and missed summer this year. I played one, that’s right one, game of golf, and it was in May. I still occasionally write 2010 on forms and checks. Could we really be almost done with 2011?

So where has all the time gone? I know I worked; thankfully I have the paychecks to prove it. America’s Got Talent ran through another season. I vaguely remember there being a time I could wear shorts on Friday to work. Oh yeah, I went to Bear Lake…but that seems like years ago, it couldn’t have been last July? So has time sped up, is the earth spinning faster; why does it seem like a day doesn’t last as long anymore?

I have this theory about our perception of time. The older you get the quicker time passes. This isn’t due to a widening of our view, or a change in our perception, but rather a change in our percentage of time. You see when you are say, one year old; one month equals roughly 8.0% of your life. But by the time you reach 30, one month is roughly one-third of a percent of your life (0.03%). So as a kid summer seemed to last forever, and in reality it was a significantly larger percentage of your life than summer is to you now as an adult. So if you feel like life is passing you by too quickly, keep in mind with every day that passes each day in your past is less significant.

No wonder I can’t remember what happened last week, let alone last year! We used to blame old age for not remembering dates or things, when in reality we are expecting to remember a specific point in time that is so miniscule as a percentage of life it is amazing anyone remembers anything at all. No wonder we stop focusing on when something happened, but focus on the fact that it did happen as we age.

So here we are, fall is upon us and winter is knocking on our door here in Utah. Time is moving forward while we struggle to keep up. With any luck I will remember that I have a post due again next week, but in all likelihood as I have passed the 30 mark, it will be months before I realize another week has past. And that is what I’m thinking about today.