Do you think time goes faster as you get older?

Discussion in 'The Village Square' started by Frank, Jul 31, 2008.

  1. Frank

    Frank GardenStew Founder Staff Member Administrator

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    I've had this discussion on several occasions with friends and we pretty much agreed that time does go faster as you grow older.
    Here's my theory: when you were younger and still were learning about the world time appeared to go slower. However as you get older you get into a routine and the fact that you are not learning new things makes time appear to go faster.

    What do you think?
     
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  3. Wrennie

    Wrennie In Flower

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    Time goes faster and faster for me.
     
  4. Bluebirdie

    Bluebirdie Seedling

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    I think it does go by faster. I remember my mom saying that it did when I was a kid, and I didn't understand what she meant. To me, time seemed to crawl by. Now I know exactly what she meant!

    I think maybe it's because you are always busy preparing for the next thing. Like Christmas - when you are a child you're just waiting for Santa, and your parents are trying to take care of their usual responsibilities and BE Santa at the same time.
     
  5. Capt Kirk

    Capt Kirk Thank a Veteran today!

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    As an older person you are a lot busier than you were as a kid. And everyone knows that when you don't have anything to do, time just creeps by.
     



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  6. Biita

    Biita Arctic-ally Challenged Forager

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    I think of time in 2 ways. There is the literal time, as in 24 hours to a day, and there is the mental time, or anticipation time frame. I know as for myself when i was a kid sometimes literal time went on and on in a single day. I was bored, or had to do chores. It was the anticipation of getting done and being able to go play that made it seem so slow. I couldn't get done fast enough to do what i wanted. Other times it went so fast, as when i was playing, that it was time to go home before i knew it. When in school, and i thought the subject was boring, time went on and on, but not fast enough. But others the time seemsed to fly by when i was intrested.

    As an adult, i have to say that the literal time is going faster and faster, because i have been there and done that. There is no anticipation. But! On the other hand, when for instance planting a new crop or growing something, it seems that the literal and anticipation time can't go fast enough for me. Same as going out on a trip in a car. If i've never been there before it seems like forever before you get there, but if its a trip to the store, been there done that, it seems like i didn't even notice the km or miles go by. And i'm there.

    So to me time is 2 ways. The time of day, and the time of the mind. I guess the key would be to have something even small to look forward too everyday. But thats just my opinion.

    (sorry for going on and on,, but i love these kinds of discussions)
     
  7. eileen

    eileen Resident Taxonomist Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    Well everything seems to go much quicker than it did when I was younger. I know the days are the same length but there never seems to be enough hours to achieve everything that I want to. I still like to learn new things to keep my brian active though and enjoy having creative hobbies.
     
  8. petunia

    petunia Young Pine

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    I think time goes much too fast. I was just mentioning it to a register person at a super market yesterdaday. I wish there was a back up button sometimes. Just for a certain amount of time. Right now I would just like to back up to spring to be able to restart my garden. We certanly have had a much too short of spring and summer here in Michigan.
     
  9. toni

    toni Mistress of Garden Junque Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    To me time does seem to fly by as you get older. As a kid it took forever for Christmas or my birthday to get here but now it seems like I no sooner get the wrapping paper thrown away then the holiday is upon us again.

    I really don't think it's because we are not learning when we are older. In the last 20 years I feel like I have learned hundreds of times more than I did in the first 40 years of my life. It's not in a structured environment like a brick and mortar classroom but in a virtual worldwide classroom. And I have hobbies/crafts/gardening to learn about, more Norwegian history to read up on ;) so many things I never learned about in school that are fascinating.

    Biita, I understand what you are talking about. A trip to a new place takes forever but the trip home is over in a wink. I have often wondered why that happens.
    As a kid when I lived in anticipation of some big future event, be it a holiday, vacation, last day of school, etc, then time dragged by. But now I live each day as it happens, still knowing that the big future event is coming but not dwelling on it, then each day is filled with it's own events and is busy and productive and over before you know it.
     
  10. CritterPainter

    CritterPainter Awed by Nature

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    Well, I have short-term-memory damage and time going by faster seems to be related to that for me.
     
  11. glendann

    glendann Official Garden Angel

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    It is speeding away all time.I do learn something new everyday.My mom use to say you never get to old to learn something new and she was so right.
     
  12. stratsmom

    stratsmom Flower Fanatic

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    I thought that when people said "The older you get, the faster it goes" it was just something old people said, well now I must be an official old person because I say it a lot! In my job I am constantly racing from one deadline to another and that just speeds the time away. Its the end of the month, it's the end of the first quarter, end of second quarter third quarter is almost up then year end and time for W-2's and taxes. Time to start all over again. In my next life I won't be a bookkeeper :D
    Deanna
    :-D
     
  13. PepperDude

    PepperDude In Flower

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    I really notice time getting faster everytime i look at my children. It seems just like yesterday i was changin diapers, the 2 o'clock feedings ect.,ect.
     
  14. Sherry8

    Sherry8 I Love Birds!

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    Yes...it seems to go so fast. I need more hours of daylight to get things done..well, maybe if I didn't socialize on the computer I could get more done..LOL
    Sherry

    I enjoy meeting all the nice people on here. I feel the people are friendlier here than most places that I visit. :-D
     
  15. dooley

    dooley Super Garden Turtle

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    Time doesn't go faster, we just fill it with more and more things. We never seem to have time to get it all done. You don't stop learning things Frank. You learn more and more and it fills up the time you could be sitting doing nothing. Retirement just gives you more time to do things. My son will be 46 on August 6th. Now, I'm feeling older. Not old, mind you, just older. dooley
     
  16. trudy

    trudy In Flower

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    An just think everytime we wish it was friday (an its Tuesday) we're wishing our lives away.
     

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