By Chuck Woodbury
ROADSIDE JOURNAL
Have you ever tried to explain to a young person how life will go by faster and faster as they get older? I know that when I was young I was told that, and I believed it. But I never did (or could) truly comprehend what “faster” really and truly meant.
I have told my 32-year-old daughter the same thing many times through the years, and I know she believes me. But I strongly suspect that like me at a younger age, she cannot comprehend what “faster” really means. She already says she feels time passing faster than when she was younger, but she can’t, I believe, comprehend how much faster it will go as the years pass.
For years I would say, when trying to explain this to others: “The years pass like water draining from a sink. When you first pull the plug, the water only slowly starts to disappear from the sink. But toward the end, the water line lowers faster and at the end it quickly spins down the drain — gone in an instant.
But that wasn’t a good enough explanation.
Just recently, I came upon a better one. I thought the passing of time was like a roll of toilet paper. When it’s new, if you turn the roll for one full rotation, and tear off the paper, it will be about 16 inches long (my experience). So let’s say that represents one year in a human lifetime.
Now, roughly where the roll looks about halfway gone, do the same thing: In my case, after a full rotation the paper measured about 12 inches. So let’s just say that represents when a person is about 40 years old. So we’ve gone from 16 inches to 12 inches. If I remembered my geometry I could be more accurate. But do you get what I mean?
Finally, when the roll is just about empty, if we pull the paper off for one last revolution to the very last piece it will measure about 5 inches. So from birth to, say, 80 years old (we’ll call that an average life), each year (single spin on the roll) will be shorter. I suggest that represents how we perceive the passage of time from birth to our final breath.
What do you think? Does this make sense? Do you have another way of illustrating how the passage of time goes faster as we age? And, no, I was not smoking anything when I wrote this!
Please leave a comment.
Here is a chart I made to illustrate my experience:
The chart above shows the relative amount of toilet paper dispensed with one full turn of the roll.
##RVTm1093b
Chuck, looking through the empty toilet paper roll, I see your point…hopefully not anytime soon for me
For anyone who would like to reverse the feeling of time speeding up that Chuck writes of, I recommend the book All The Time In The World by Lisa Broderick. It’s the flow state, the zone, we’re looking for.
Maybe, at the beginning of our lives we wasted too much TP. (I really don’t know what that means. I was just looking at it from the other end of the roll.)
That’s very deep, Kelly. Something to ponder while sitting on the “throne.” 😆 Have a good night. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Ah!, I just figured it out. I’m switching to a bidet. Also not doing dishes in a sink anymore – switching to paper. (will let you know how that works … in about 20 years.)
Good luck with all of that, Kelly. And yes, let me know how it works. 😀 –Diane
Diane, will you still be doing this in 20 years?
I hope so (unless AI has taken over the world by then). 😯 Have a good night, Impavid. 😀 –Diane
I get what you’re saying. But I must say that my experience is the opposite. I’m fairly newly retired (though for the 3rd time) and approaching 60. Time crawls for me compared to, say, twenty years ago. I suppose I am lucky.
An hour glass also demonstrates the perceived exponential acceleration of time the same way a draining sink does (or Chuck’s toilet paper roll). The rate at which the container of water or sand tapers at the lower end determines the perceived rate of acceleration. It’s just physics 101. How our minds perceive in old age is another question. Perhaps our brains are tapered at the bottom? Hehehehehehe….
I tell my children, and anyone else who will listen, that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes!
And in the end, our kids are left to clean up our sh-t!
Thanks a lot Chuck! – now I have to contemplate life every morning! HA HA! Outstanding analogy and right on target! At 86.5 yrs. (there’s no holding as in 29) it is all downhill at an increasing rate. Enjoy the ride. My analogy to time is every day seems like it is Friday. Starts on Monday and then it’s Friday – nothing in the middle! Thanks again Chuck. (PS: Is Emily still speaking to you?)
Great article
I think I’ll buy mega rolls from now on!
There ya go, Thomas! What a great idea! And have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Great analogy, Chuck! It and the tape measure reflecting an average lifetime are the best I have encountered.
Your introduction did it for me …. I was following your writings (Out West) before Emily was born! And now she’s 32! Impossible.
I believe I’ve figured this out (after 76 years of contemplation). Your brain perceives time in proportion to the total time that you have existed. When young, every year is a major portion of your life. As you age, that portion becomes continuously shorter. At my age, one year is just 1.3% of my entire lifetime, so it seems rather short. When I was 5 it was 20% – and seemed to last forever. Unfortunately, the corollary is that EVERY year will seem slightly shorter than the last. So we had best get used to it! 🙁
Excellent analysis!
I think you’ve nailed it, Chuck. I recently turned 76 and fully understand what you are saying. My wife and I recently celebrated our 50th anniversary and we both expressed how quickly that 50 years passed.
From a Plumber- The # of pulls on the roll increases as the size of the area to be cleaned increases with age. This is not a gender related issue. Just life.
TMI, Jesse. 😆 Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
I wouldn’t want my life to be spent as toilet paper, because of what it’s primarily used for. I don’t want to end up like toilet paper does. Hahaha
I was told decades ago, at age 10 a year is 1/10th of your life. At age 60 a year is only 1/60th of your life.
Chuck, you have waaay too much time on your hands!
When you start at the top and head down hill, especially in a heavy RV, at first you start out relatively slow. But if you don’t apply the proper braking on the way down, by the time you get to the bottom you would be going way too fast. Such is life. Take the time to enjoy your life and savor the memories as you get towards the end. Stay safe and Stay well.
Great explanation of how fast time passes. But the tp has a great end result when it does pass. It provides a result of that time spent, so we can go forth and enjoy the time ahead.
Rudyard Kipling made the comment in one of the Jungle Books (I’ve been looking for this quotation and haven’t found it yet but it struck me as being particularly apt) where Mowgli goes out with the village boys to tend the buffalo herd-and then details what they do all day long- imagine being 10 years old and having to invent all your own games-anyway Kipling says “the afternoon was longer than most peoples lives”