Every year, as November and December are upon us, I seem to hear the same comment countless times; “I can’t believe how quickly this year went; it seems each one is even faster than the last!” Is it true? Does time accelerate as we age? The simple answer, no; time is fixed. A second is a second, a week is a week, a year is a year. However, there is little argument that the perception of the passing of time is extremely variable. After all, “time flies when you’re having fun.” So is every year a little more fun than the last? From what I’ve heard from most families about the last couple years, another simple answer; nope.
So why is it that each year seems to be quicker than the last?
As it turns out, I have a simple philosophy. Nothing groundbreaking or overly profound, but just a thought…
When you were five years old, and reflected on the past year, it was a reflection on 1/5 of your life. That’s a pretty long time; a large amount of your memory. When you were ten, your reflection of the past year was only 1/10 of your life. At 20, 1/20. As you can see, as we age, each year represents a much smaller portion of our life - each seemingly smaller, shorter, quicker, than those considered in prior years. While the year was still 52 weeks, 365.25 days, 8,766 hours, 525,960 minutes, or 31,557,600 seconds, the perception of this duration of time is significantly less. So, it would seem that each year is a little shorter than the year prior.
That’s it. As I mentioned, not tremendously profound or exciting; but a simple thought to define our annual acceleration. Cheers; enjoy each moment of 2013, fly a kite, and Happy New Year!
