Life is not a race. Or a straight line. Or a timed exercise.
And yet? Some days it feels like the world is nudging us forward with a stopwatch in its hand. It seems like we are always being told to hurry up, move faster. Cross the T. Dot the I. Check the boxes and get on to the next thing.
But life isn’t a straight line from “start” to “finish.” It’s more like a scrapbook, maybe. Like a big collection of moments. It is filled with a hodgepodge of emotions. It becomes a series of single moments that somehow become a life when stitched all together.
Here’s the thing though. Science actually backs this up. Researchers at Princeton found that the brain doesn’t record time evenly. Instead, it “bookmarks” emotionally rich moments. That is why remember one single afternoon eating cheese and crackers with someone we love, while the rest of the year can pass by unmarked. Our brains are built to measure life by meaning.
Sometimes the best reminders come from history. Did you know that Albert Einstein was famous for his long walks? This was not because he was exercising, but because emptying his mind while he walked helped him think about loftier things.
Or what about the Japanese concept of ma? Ma celebrates the pause between things as much as the things themselves. A cup of tea, a breath before speaking, a quiet moment on a porch. All of these things are honored as essential parts of a life and not just wasted seconds.
Even our clocks have a sense of humor about time. Until 1883, every American town kept its own local time based on the sun, meaning noon in Cincinnati wasn’t noon in Pittsburgh. Imagine the chaos then. But this is a big reminder that time was always a human invention. We’ve changed it many times.
I can write about these things and know that they are true. But the thing is, I am a very time-measured person. I need my schedule and my routine. At least I think I do. It is what makes me feel the most secure.
But I know, deep down, that life expands when we stop measuring it. Some of the most important moments come unexpectedly. They just happen without any help from us.
It is best when we notice the small goodness in so many moments. Those times when we don’t rush. Those times when we breathe it all in. When we notice. When we take just a moment to give thanks.
May we remember that we are living. Living each moment. We are a collection of stories. All of our moments of love and goodness.
And may we keep noticing these wonders, one deep breath at a time.
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“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
— Lao Tzu
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“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.”
— Ram Dass
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“Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.”
— Japanese Proverb
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“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.”
— Etty Hillesum
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