In spite of popular belief, science has proven that the reason time goes faster as you get older is because of your memory of it, not your actual experience. Age is not what causes you to feel the passage of moments at a faster or slower pace, but rather the frequency of your new experiences. For instance, say a 50-year-old and a 5-year-old go on the same train ride. Chances are the 5- year-old will perceive the ride being much longer than the 50-year-old. Why? Because the adult has been on the train many times and the things she’s experiencing are not impressive to her, but the child has never been on the train, nor has he ever been to its destination.

Here’s what we can learn from this illustration: if you want your life to slow down, you have to slow down and experience it rather than zipping through it. How? You can slow down the pace of your existence by simply having more new experiences. Try taking a new route to work, eating at a new restaurant, or taking a walk through a park you’re unfamiliar with. Believe it or not, this will slow down your pace just as much as going to Paris and seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time — new is new!  

Friend, don’t be a person who misses out on new experiences because you’re in a hurry to get to where you’ve already been. Live life slowly and on purpose. Follow in the footsteps of Jesus and take His easy yoke upon you. As you do, He will lead you beside quiet waters and restore your soul!