The Transience Of Time When We Grow Up

The transience of time worries us as we get older,  because it seems to us that everything around us begins to flow much faster. Why doesn’t this happen when we are small? At 7 or 10, time seems interminable, but at just over twenty, the years pass inexorably.

This is, without a doubt, a psychological effect that we have all noticed. Time doesn’t go by faster, it just changes our perception. Routine prevents us from enjoying each day to the fullest and our memories seem to recede more and more to a distant past. All this affects our perception of the fleetingness of time.

The transience of time is a matter of perception

Time flows the same for any person, but the perception we have of it is not the same. The normal thing is that, from the age of twenty, you and other people realize that time passes faster than a few years ago. This happens because you are more aware of the passage of time. Now you give it a lot of importance. Is it not true that now you always more or less know what time it is?

There are, however,  many people who are able to make the most of every day of their life and enjoy it as when they were young; for them the inexorable movement of the hands is not a cause of stress. Do you think that the perception of time is very important, it is the key to all this. Can we do something to avoid feeling that we cannot stop the passage of time?

Surely you have realized that when you get bored or have nothing to do, time passes very, very slowly. Conversely, when you have a lot of work to do, meetings, commitments, projects and deadlines, it seems like the day needs a few more hours.

It all depends on what we have to do, on our obligations, on our strict routines. When we leave the routine and go on vacation, we don’t constantly check the clock  like when we are working. This also affects the age. The older we are, the more time will seem to pass quickly.

Our memory and time

In addition to routine and our work commitments, there are other situations that make us understand why, the older we are, the faster time passes. It is a question of memory. When we look back, the more years we are, the fewer memories we will have of the last few years; conversely, when you are younger you have more recent memories.

The few memories imprinted in our memory cause us that strange transient effect of time that makes us seem to have passed at the speed of light. However, perhaps by looking back and making two calculations, you will have realized that the elapsed time was not as much as you imagined.

Let’s take as an example a love breakup, which took place a year ago. It will seem to you that a short time has passed, but if you think about it, a year has passed! Your perception has made you believe that less time has passed than real time. This is because your memories of that time are scarce, and many have been erased.

During adolescence and maturity, school, university and work mark our time and our lives. We learn all the time, we fall in love for the first time, we know many people, we experiment, we travel. As a result, the changes occur one after the other and we are aware of them, as opposed to what happens in childhood.

Whether time passes slowly or quickly, the best thing you can do is enjoy it.  Whether it is more or less fast, the important thing is not to have the feeling of having thrown it away. On the other hand, we must bear in mind that it is the best gift we can give to others, since it is limited and belongs to us.