Another year has passed by–already!? It seems that as the years that pass accumulate, the speed at which they go by increases. Thinking about this one day, I had an illustration pop up in my mind of how to slow this down, at least the perception of it.

You know when you travel to a new destination by car the path to that destination seems to be so far? But then on the way back home, that same path seems to go so much faster. Well, here is my thinking. On the way back, our efficient brain recognizes what’s familiar and blocks it out to save processing power. Makes sense, right? The downfall however is that it makes things fly by faster. Something you may want when commuting but I think it also does it with the years of our life.

As you establish routines yearly, go to work, go home, do your activities and they are the same year after year it is this that your brain starts recording as familiar and it performs its efficiency protocols. Thus, after every yearly cycle it starts ignoring the familiar and thus the time starts flying by. “Where did that year go!” You exclaim. So what is my solution to make life appear a little slower and thus feel longer?

Always take the scenic route.

Try not to live each year exactly the same. Add a new vacation destination. Read new books. Learn new skills. Meet new people. Explore new hobbies. Learn to dance Salsa, Bachata, something. But cycle your years with new adventures so that your brain is forced to explore the new and your years don’t completely fly by too fast.

In the end, time still passes by. I’m sure there will be things we wished we would have done differently. But taking the scenic route will make the years full of new adventures and hopefully slow down the perception of them passing so you can savor and reduce regrets.

So lets get to it and do something new this year. Vamonos!