Feeling dissatisfied or impatient with the trajectory of your life? Changing that perception is an inside job, and it’s completely up to you. Here’s how to reset your brain and begin enjoying your time here on earth…for real.
“Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why.” — Kurt Vonnegut
I’m sitting in a drab, grey waiting area. Outdated brown leather chairs adorn the small room with a faded green carpet. In the middle sits a simple wooden coffee table with no personality offering some random magazines from nineteen-ninety-something. The central AC rattles and wheezes quietly, reflecting my melancholic mood. As I look around, I notice peeling paint on the wall and spots on the rug that look suspiciously like blood. The clock on the wall seems to have stopped. I conclude that it must have died of boredom. Oh, wait—it’s still alive, and it’s 10:05. I daydream for a bit, then lean in to take a sip of my water. I hear a muffled conversation coming from inside the doctor’s office, and wonder what could be so interesting. I cross my legs and look back at the clock. It’s only 10:06.
I’m sitting on my recliner at home with some popcorn in a bowl next to me, a fully charged joystick, a large-screen TV, and a warm Xbox ready for action. It’s 4:00 p.m., and the afternoon sun is still hot, but on its way to bed. As I find my friends online, we step into an alien battleship and begin shooting up any creature that dares oppose us. We jump from the spaceship to a desert, and end up underground facing three impossibly tough beasts that want to drink our blood. As we banter over our wireless mikes and make fun of the monsters, I take a second to look around my room. The popcorn is finished, and empty bags of chips and soda cans are strewn all around. The curtains are still open, but it’s dark outside, and the clock angrily glares 1:57 a.m. It feels like just seconds have passed.
SCIENCE SHOWS THAT TIME IS PERCEIVED BY SPECIFIC PARTS OF THE BRAIN, AND CERTAIN DRUGS CAN FOOL US INTO FEELING THAT IT HAS SLOWED DOWN OR SPED UP.
Time is a simple concept, but frustratingly difficult to understand or explain. Science shows that time is perceived by specific parts of the brain, and certain drugs can fool us into feeling that it has slowed down or speeded up. “Time flies when you’re having fun,” they say. Yes, it does! But why, and how? Why does it crawl to an infuriatingly slow pace when you want it to pass so desperately?
History debated the actual existence of time for a long while, until it was conclusively linked to space by Albert Einstein in his famous theory of relativity. Time is space and space is time; and that model is called the space-time continuum. It’s a strange idea, but it has been proven correct by science time and again via simple experiments. Our three dimensions of space can’t work without the fourth dimension of time.
Quantum physics (the study of subatomic matter) also demonstrates that particles change behavior when observed, which fundamentally means that our perception affects the physical reality around us. Strange, spooky stuff—but also proven time and again with simple experiments.
WE CAN ALL BE THE GODS OF OUR OWN UNIVERSE, BECAUSE NO MATTER WHAT OUR PHYSICAL SURROUNDINGS, WE HAVE THE FREEDOM AND FLEXIBILITY TO GOVERN OUR MINDS—AND THAT’S SOMETHING NOBODY CAN EVER HIJACK.
According to science, we have the power to control time, and some would even say that our thoughts affect reality based upon the positive or negative expectations (vibes) we emanate to matter. I won’t go that far, and will stick to science for now. We can all be the gods of our own universe, because no matter what our physical surroundings, we have the freedom and flexibility to govern our minds—and that’s something nobody can ever hijack. If we alter our perspective of boredom and fun, and appreciate the moment just for itself regardless of the setting in which we find ourselves, we’ve accomplished something truly great. Just feeling satisfied and happy to be alive in this strange, quirky world we live in—and recognizing that one single, solitary, magical moment—you realize that time can stop if you wish it to. Appreciate it, cherish it, and try to hold onto every second. It can last a lifetime, or slip away like sand between your fingers. Others have already lost the ability to appreciate life, and we warm-blooded specks have a tiny sliver of time to appreciate it before we ourselves fade away like a puff of smoke.
