50+ Lifestyles

Variety Is the Secret

By Mary Schricker Gemberling

“This time, like all times, is a very good one,
if we but know what to do with it.”
                        Ralph Waldo Emerson

Recently a friend phoned and apologized for not calling sooner to extend a dinner invitation to Gary and me. We had been with her earlier in the summer and made tentative plans to get together again. We talked about how fast the summer was going and how when July 4th came it seemed to be almost over! ‘Time’ is a popular topic in small-talk conversations; when two people haven’t seen each other for a while they often say, “ I just don’t know where the time has gone.” It seems the older we get, the faster time goes. On the other hand, time seems to move much more slowly for my nine and eleven-year-old granddaughters, especially when anticipating an upcoming birthday or special event in their lives. So why is this? Do adults and children actually perceive time differently?

Before I could find the answer to this question, I needed to know a little bit more about the origin and history of time. When did the concept of time begin? According to archaeological evidence, the Babylonians and Egyptians began to measure time at least 5,000 years ago, introducing calendars to organize and coordinate communal activities and to regulate cycles of planting and harvesting. They based their calendars on three natural cycles: the solar day, the lunar month, and the solar year. Today’s Gregorian calendar is a combination of the Babylonian, Egyptian, Jewish, and Roman calendars.

The earliest recorded mechanical clock was installed in England in 1283. The progression of this timepiece to what we know today was a long and arduous process, and over the years several systems evolved. For centuries after the invention of the mechanical clock, the periodic tolling of the bell in the town church or clock tower was enough to inform most people of the time. By the 15th century a growing number of clocks were being made for domestic use. Pocket watches became a popular accessory for men in the 16th century. It was during World War I that the wristwatch became a fashion statement. The history and progression of the watch itself is a topic for another article. It may even be a moot issue since today most people seem to only wear only sport watches or use their phones to tell time.

Now that we have a cursory knowledge of the ‘timeline of time’ we can take a closer look at how we perceive the passing of time. The concept of time perception is a subjective experience measured by one’s own perception of the duration of events. Understanding what’s behind our perception is a detailed and complicated process. In short, our makeup, our surroundings, and our experiences all affect how we process time. This explains in part how age difference plays a critical role in how we see the passage of time.

Our brains are trained to receive images when we are infants. Because we are absorbing so many new images as a child, it may feel like months and years are longer. The perception of time is strongly influenced by memory. For a 10-year-old, a year is 10% of their lives. For someone 60 years old, a year is less than 2% of their lives which contributes to the feeling that it went by quickly. Our perception of days, weeks, and years changes as we age. In the life of a small child the events that take place in a day, such as the first time they get to stay overnight with a friend, are more meaningful and memorable. For an older person, what happens today, or this month, or even this year may be similar to what has gone on for the past few years so the events tend to blend together, thus contributing to the feeling that time is going faster.

Since most of us want to live longer, more productive lives, the question is can we change this feeling of fleeting time? Research suggests there are things we can do to feel we are slowing down that speeding train of time; variety seems to be the secret!

Take an overnight or weekend trip to someplace you have never been.

Begin a hobby or activity you used to do or have always wanted to try.

Habitual activity done the same way all the time adds to boredom. Our brains are trained to recognize new patterns so change up your routine and do old things in a new way.

Call an old friend and get together and reminisce about when you were younger. Reliving parts of our past has a way of energizing us.

Take a class and learn something new.

Limit your TV watching. Try to watch a documentary or the history channel rather than the same old show you watch every week.

None of us know how much time we have left, but we can have some control over how we pass the time. So from this point on, make the most of every minute, hour, and day remaining!

“One day you’re 17 and you’re planning for someday.
And then quietly without you ever really noticing,
someday is today. And then someday is yesterday.
And this is your life.”
                                            John Green

Mary, a former educator and Seniors Real Estate Specialist, is the author of four books: The West End Kid; Labor of Love: My Personal Journey Through the World of Caregiving; Hotel Blackhawk: A Century of Elegance; and Ebenezer United Methodist Church: 150 Years of Resiliency.