I know, you hear it from everyone as each year comes to a close: “Wow, this year really went by fast.” And I think we all say it with good reason. Sometimes the years do really seem to fly by. A memory came up on my phone for me today, and it was Abby taking my place on the guitar in Rock Band (remember when that game was a thing?). And after I saw that picture, I found a few others of Abby and Maddy at various times when they were little. They aren’t little anymore. Abby is starting to drive, and Maddy is catching up to her in height. Time just keeps moving faster and faster, it seems.
Of course, we know that time technically doesn’t move faster; each second, minute, and hour is the same length no matter if you are one year old or one hundred and one years old. But it sure seems like it does, and there is a potential solution to feeling like the days are just dissolving past you: do something new. Every day if you can, try to add new experiences, new adventures, and new patterns to your life. At some point, as we age, we get into routines. The alarm goes off, we get up, drink coffee, eat breakfast, head to work, etc. Then at work or at school or at home, we often have the same things to do, day in and day out. At some point, this repetitiveness causes our brains to sort of shorten the time, or at least how we remember it, because nothing new happened. Just the same grind each day.
If we intentionally do new things, change our routines, it activates our brains differently and we remember more, giving us the sense of time going a little more slowly.
So do something new this year. Welcome change in 2026. It doesn’t have to be a grand adventure or something wild and off the charts. Just a break from routine, a little workout for your mind. We’ll never slow time down to a snail’s pace, even if I may want Abby and Maddy to stop growing up, but we can more meaningfully enjoy the present and create new routines to keep our minds active and our memories growing. I just may have to dig out that old Rock Band game and give it a try one of these days!
However you approach the new year, we wish you the best of luck in 2026. I have a feeling it’s going to be a great one.
