Ever heard the term, time flies? Sure, you have. But does time really fly?
One curious Redditor decided to ask this question, and a bunch of older adults gave their perspectives. Some of the responses are touching, and others are insightful.
mustbeshitinme’s Touching Comment
“I’m 57, I was 27 six months ago, and my last child was born when I was 40, about 4 months ago. The days and nights have come and gone. The bad nights take forever, and the good days never seem to last. A life is So brief, yet a month can be an eon.
The childhood of my children went by in a flash. Honestly, it went by before I could really even think about whether or not I was a good parent. I loved them, I tried to explain myself and life to them as it went on and on, but it went too fast for reflection.
My brother spent years in ICU dying. Actually, It was 61 days of hell. I became the father of my parents in that 61 days. I made the decision to turn him off. I scheduled my brother to die. The night before he died passed like Pluto’s orbit. A forever night. His life, seeing him shoot thousands of Larry Bird-like jump shots, as good as anyone I’ve ever seen do it, passed in a wink.
The days in love of Crystie, the love that would never get there, were an hour of blissful happiness.
The days with my wife have been filled with passion, illness, and understanding, and I hardly know her yet, 25 years later. She isn’t my Crystie, and maybe I’m not hers either, but we’ve passed the time.
Time is the ONLY relative thing.”
Related: How to Live a Long and Healthy Life
LovelockMike Summarizes Life in Three Words
“Nope. I’ll be 74 next week, 5 years older than my mother when she died, and am currently at an “assisted living” place. I’m being treated for prostate cancer AND nascent Alzheimer’s, which seems to be coming really fast. Not married, I have adult kids sort of close, and my daughter, age 40, comes often; she’s a junior high school teacher and lives close. My sons call sometimes.
I will say that if I died today, that would be fine. I’ll never be able to do all the traveling, and my doctor told me not to drive nearly 3 years ago.
Life is tough.”
In response to LovelockMike, ClassBShareHolder says:
“This is what I’m afraid of. Time is flying by now, but when I end up in a home, time will probably grind to a halt again.
I try not to think about it, but my dad is in a home. It’s good he’s finally had someone move in he can talk to. Before that, anybody he knew was either unintelligible or had dementia.
They do have activities during the week he participates in, so that’s good. I don’t get out to see him nearly enough because I’m so busy with my own life.”
DNathanHilliard Leaves Us Something to Think About
“Moment by moment? No.
Where the hell did the past twenty years go? Yes.”
SteeCrow Has a Working Solution for DNathanHilliard’s Perspective
“There’s a way to slow down the feeling of time passing.
The reason we blink and ten, or twenty years have passed is our life has become routine. Monday happens just like last Monday, and the Mondays before it. We can’t differentiate between them.
But new things focus our attention on them. Cause us to register them and live through them. Routines and repetitive days, speed up our awareness of the passage of time. Doing new things slows it down. As we get older fewer things are new.”
english_major Seems to Have Had a Long Life and Explains How
“It hasn’t for me. I am amazed at how long my life has been and that I still have time left to go. I’m 58. I know that I am the anomaly.
My understanding is that it has to do with how much variation you have in your life. I have done a lot of traveling. I switch jobs regularly. We have switched towns over the years. I make new friends. I seek out new experiences and take up new interests.”
The Verdict?
The older folks have spoken, and it seems like life actually flies. However, the key to stretching time and making it feel longer is to have a lot of variation in your life. Try doing new things, being open to change, seeking new experiences, making new friends, and traveling. These things will help you slow down the passing of time and make life feel like it’s lasting longer.
You can make the most out of this one shot by being proactive and taking control of your life. So please don’t waste time; get out there and make it count!
This post is a curation of a subreddit post.