Times Perspective

To a 20-year-old looking forward 20 years seems

like looking into eternity.



To a 60-year-old looking back 20 years seems

like looking back a few weeks, months at most.



To a 20-year-old the time till your 21st birthday

is forever. Time passes so slowly you can count

the seconds.



By the time you reach 60 time is moving so fast

the days are a blur. You wonder what became

of last week or last month.



At 20 we have ants in our pants and can't stay

still for more than a minute. At 60 we sit down

to read a good book after breakfast and the next

time we look up it's lunchtime.



If we could only have that longtime perspective

during our youth and realize that 20 years down

the road is far shorter than it appears. Long time

is just a trick of time's perspective.



Looking backward through time's perspective is

similar to looking at things in your car's rear view

mirror... Things appear closer than they really are.



Looking forward in time we get tunnel vision and

things seem much further away than they really are.



Somewhere in time we hope our perspective

balances out. Eventually our internal clock slows

down enough that things behind us in life are no

longer stretched out of proportion; and the future

isn't compressed to the point where you think you

can just jump ahead in line in no time.



You mellow out.

You get to relax for a while.

Hopefully/Maybe.