Live for each second without hesitation. Elton John
As humans, we know the future is a promise and may not
happen. The past cannot be changed. We live in the moment. Actually, I think Science
tells us that we all have a different understanding of time. So that my
understanding of time and Elton John’s understanding of time are not the same.
As we go through life, we time traveler: We are shaped by
memories of the past that influence our understanding of the present and help
predict what we see in our future. Scientists call this our time-perspective.
We all know those who tend to get stuck in the past, and others who live only
for the moment, or are enslaved by our ambitions for the future.
Stanford University psychology professor emeritus Philip
Zimbardo coined the idea of time perspective. After more than ten years’
research, he concluded that our attitude toward time is just as defining as key
personality traits such as optimism or sociability. He believes that time
perspective influences many of our judgements, decisions, and actions.
Culture, upbringing and societal norms affect our understanding
of time and help shape our time perspective. Individualistic, me-focused
societies tend to be future-focused, while more we-focused societies ones that
encourage social engagement invest more in the past. Poorer communities tend to
live more in the present.
Scientists tell us that we can learn to shift our attention
easily between the past, present and future, and consciously adapt our mindset
to any given situation. Learning to switch time perspectives allows us to fully
take part in everything we do, whether it’s a relaxed evening reading a good
book or recalling old stories with family and friends.
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