We are into the second week of the new year; 8 days of 2025 are almost history. This year is flying by already, there is only 98% of the year remaining, and to borrow from the Beatles, the magical mystery tour is not stopping anytime soon. When July 2 rolls around, 50% of the year will have disappeared and the following 50% will not go by any slower. You know I am right. We say the same thing every year. We have procrastinated so long to complete a project that the speediness of the year is the only thing to blame it on. Realize though, there are 24 hours in a day, no less, no more. Those 24 hours go by at the same speed as they do every day, one minute at a time. We are the ones moving faster than the speed of light, not the clocks. It feels like we are playing catch up from the time the ball drops in New York to when we are putting the Christmas decorations away around January 8, the following year.
Have you noticed that on some days, the hours seem to be dragging by? You feel like whatever it is you are doing, and needs to get done quickly is taking too long. Finally, the end of the day has come, and you look at your work and realize, you did get it finished. Did time slow down for you? Maybe? Probably not. The next day, another project, and this one should take a long time, but the hours begin to speed by. The project is no where near where it should be at the time, but you keep going, Before you know it, the day has escaped you, but somehow, your project got done, and you cannot account for part of the time during the day, because it went by so fast. Was this day making up for too much time the previous day? Same number of hours in each day. No more, no less. 24 hours is all we are given.
What is the explanation? Is there a reason for this phenomenon? It is called, ‘Time Perception’. The way we perceive the time that we have is dictated by the thoughts the brain produces, seemingly on our behalf. Today, Jan. 8, as disturbing as it may sound has to do with chickens. Today is National, and not confirmed yet, National Snuggle a Chicken Day. Yeah, I know. If it’s a national holiday that means we all have to have access to a chicken in order to celebrate the day properly. Well, that ain’t happening, is it? Fortunately for those of us who do not have poultry at our disposal, today is also a celebration of the earth’s rotation. It is called National or even International or dare we say, Universal Earth Rotation Day! Nicolaus Copernicus, who proposed the theory in the 1500’s is credited for the concept of a day by proving that our home rotates around the sun in a 24-hour period, so we could simplify his discovery by calling it ‘night and day’ over 520 years later. The same 24 hours that we ‘Time Perceive’ today.
It seems then that the rotation of the earth is something that we should be aware of in order for us to proceed through our day. However, the average person never thinks about the way we are moving through space in connection with how long it takes them to perform their jobs, or to take their children to school, or to mow the lawn or to simply go to the grocery store or hardware store. In other words, we do not take the rotation of the earth into consideration for our ability to function on a daily basis. We, however give that credit or blame, to the clock on the wall. Not giving a second thought to that clock dial being governed by the rotation of the earth and its journey around the sun, the bigger picture.
We might wish we had more time in a day, but given the way we manage the time that we do have, what difference would an hour or two make? We might want time to slow down, but then we would complain how the day is dragging on. There are a few things that we might be able to control in nature, or at least can manipulate, unfortunately time is not one of those. 2025 will speed by at times, and will slow down to the point of tears at other times. Regardless of which we are experiencing, give some thought to Copernicus and his 24-hour discovery. It’s all you get. Deal with it! Welcome to 2025 and ‘Time Perception’.
Time Perception
