Why is it that the older we get, the faster time seems to move? The summers of my youth were much longer than the summers I get now. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed to last an eternity, and now it goes by in the blink of an eye. Sometimes, it seems like as soon as I finish a weekly column, I have to start on the next one. Now that I am surely on downhill side of this journey, I need to find a way to slow things down.
I rarely, almost never, research something for this column. I made an exception and Googled the question about time speeding up. The one answer I found and read basically attributed the hyperspace through time on the simple fact that as we get older, we have less new experiences, and therefore, we don’t relish and/or commit the daily events of our lives to memory, and the world simply spins without us giving notice. I have accepted this answer as at least a partial explanation of life passing me by.
I do love to go to new courthouses in strange towns to try cases. The adventure of trying a case in a town I have never been is always a good time and generally pretty memorable. New people and new places do make the memories of the trial much more vivid than if it was held in the familiar confines of Pulaski County.
I often find myself sitting in local courtrooms trying to remember the way it felt to be there the first time.
I also find that I am often bogged down in a morass of endless traditions that I have created or joined during my life that have the effect of limiting the options I have to do something else at particular times of the year. For example, life would be a lot more exciting if I could come to grips with the idea that missing a Razorback football game is not the end of the world and sometimes there are other things to do than call the Hogs. I have missed many opportunities and adventures because of my adherence to a football schedule.
Tying one’s life to football games is an obvious example, but my life is full of many things I do just because that is what I do, and rarely do I give a second thought to alternative choices. I think that makes everything run together, and sometimes the familiar nature of the experiences simply cause it to merge with similar prior events, and I cruise on through without really paying attention. Maybe it is all about paying attention.
In many ways, living life is like watching a football game. Even if you don’t pay attention, the game goes on anyway. For some, knowing the score is enough; but to really enjoy life, you need to pay attention to the details. It is the little things that make life special. It is the little things that make life memorable.
Take a deep breath and pay attention to your surroundings and those around you. When you come to a point where the road forks, don’t be afraid to go a way you have never gone before. The new experience might make all the difference.
I suspect that none of this will really slow down my perception of time to the point of brining back the endless summers I experienced when I was young boy, but the freshness of new experiences will make the time that much better. Making the short time you have here in the game better is always a good thing, especially for those of us way up in the CHEAP SEATS!
Bill James is a criminal defense attorney and co founder of the James Law Firm with offices in Little Rock, Conway, and Fayetteville, Arkansas. He may be contacted at Bill@JamesLaw.com.