Expand Your Time. Do Less. Be More.
We’re so busy doing that we miss living.
Let’s explore one of life’s little paradoxes.
The Theory of Special Relativity (originally proposed by Albert Einstein) has been scientifically proven by physicists in the lab. These experiments confirm that the faster that matter travels, the slower time goes!
When I’m traveling in an airplane, I’m actually aging more slowly than my twin sister who is traveling around in her car. But I would argue that it’s not worth it. While my most recent flight did get me across the country relatively quickly, waiting in security lines and enduring annoying distractions during the flight as I followed my path of the trajectory on a seat monitor negated any benefits of prolonging my terrestrial existence. I’d prefer to make the trip from Texas to California in a car, on the earth’s surface, stopping frequently along the way to immerse myself in the scenery and interesting characters I might encounter. Ooh, look! A historical marker! Time to stretch my legs.
The expansion of time is only as valuable as what occurs during that time. Amen? When we’re laying in bed with the flu, or something worse, we are not comforted by the knowledge that our time spent enduring the illness is going faster than if we were jetting off on a holiday.
The physics of time expansion, while fascinating, offers little advantage during our relatively short earthly lives. In fact, I would argue that the opposite result is achieved.
Slow Walking
We’ve all laughed at videos played at an advanced speed. Watching people and animals rushing around in a manic frenzy makes any activity look preposterous. Yet, watching any scene in slow motion makes the actors look purposeful, dramatic, cool and…..yes: sexy!
We could race through life, like jet-setters, flying from one memorable event to another, but will we really be savoring life?
Here’s a well-known adage:
“It’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
Slow down. Smell the roses. Be engaged in your surroundings. Find the beauty of the moment. Treasure the people in your life. Open a door to an alternate universe and step inside of a book. Yes, you may be aging more rapidly than full-time airline pilots, or astronauts, but you won’t be strapped into an uncomfortable cockpit for most of your life, either. Although the slow-mo tarmac walk after a flight is awesome!
Theoretical physics suggest that thinking more actually expands time. Thought is mental energy. It’s timeless. As a currently popular meme declares:
You matter.
Unless you multiply yourself by the speed of light squared.
Then you energy.
Physics jokes! Hilarious!
And energy, science tells us, is eternal. The more you think, the more time your consciousness claims!
A (relatively) long-held theory in astronomy states that as the universe accelerates in a limitless expansion, time slows down on its own. Then why does it seem like time is going faster? Hmmm. Another sweet paradox to be explored later, I guess. But this astronomical principle has been challenged recently. If the expansion of the universe is accelerating, there will come a point when time stops altogether in an eternal point of energy. And, apparently, eternity is scary to some scientists, so they’re frantically looking for alternative theories.
So, let the universe handle the physics. Expand your own time. Walk slower. Enjoy each moment. Think more. You won’t regret it. And you’ll look so much cooler than all the others that are stuck on high speed.
