Article by Fabafterfifty
Why do birthdays seem to come round quicker as we get older?
Can it really be a whole year since my last birthday? I am convinced that time speeds up as we age. It doesn’t seem like a full year since my last one, and the two years since turning 50 have just flown by!
Is it because it’s just ‘one more’ and not as significant as the big ‘0’s, or is it because we have so many past birthdays that each one holds less significance in our memory. The past year (ie 1/52) represents far less percentage of my total memory recall than perhaps the year leading up to my 22nd, or 32nd birthdays would have done. (1/22 or 1/32).
Or is it perhaps that I haven’t created enough significant ‘first’ memories in the past year so the days and months have blended in together without significant events or milestones to break up the year.
Can we slow down time?
I’m not looking to turn back time, but I wouldn’t mind slowing it down a little!
Looking back over the past year I have to confess to it being quite ‘routine’- doing the same things (although all enjoyable!) with the same people . Perhaps I need to push boundaries, create new experiences. With a relocation planned and a new business idea to put into action perhaps my 53rd year will appear to go more slowly. Let’s see if the anticipation of future plans will help to slow down time just a little!
Do you think time goes by faster now than when you were younger?
Photo credit: Digitalart
Actually, you are right, time does “speed up” as we age, this is a scientific fact that few people realise. My husband is a scientist and he and others have done work at Oxford University and elsewhere into just these effects – in fact there was an Horizon programme on TV this year about it. Our brain chemistry is primed to make time “go faster” as we age for primeval biological reasons, a child experiences time much more slowly. Of course there are still 60 minutes to each hour and so on, but our body clocks speed up, our inner mechanisms speed up, our heart rates and everything else speed up, so we feel time going literally faster than before.
Trisha, thank you so much for your input on this one. I would love to put some questions to your husband about his research to share with our readers !
The point you make about significant events is a good one. Life should be full of them but too often we let things slide by because things seem more mundane generally. It is hard work creating an atmosphere of excitement all the time!
The good news about perceptions of time changing with aging is that older people seem less likely to procrastinate. Perhaps it’s because people appreciate how quickly time passes as they get older, or maybe because there’s greater awareness that time can be easily ‘wasted’.