It’s funny how such a little unit of a time — one single minute — can feel like an intimidatingly long period of time OR such a brief moment we don’t even notice it passing, let alone value it as a potential-filled opportunity.
How you perceive a single minute — whether you think one minute is an unbearably long time or a tiny insignificant snap of the fingers — depends so much on what you’re doing (or TRYING to do, or trying NOT to do) in that instant, and how you feel about what you do (or don’t) want to do or feel in that minute.
TOO SHORT
If someone tells you you have a single minute to eat a decadent dessert you want to savor, allotting only a single minute to enjoying it probably will make you perceive that minute as TOO SHORT; a minute will be over and done before you finish one bite!
You will probably also perceive a minute as being too short to do an annoying administrative task like calling the dentist to make an appointment or cleaning the bathroom; don’t you hate it when people say chores like these are no big deal and “should” only take a minute?
A minute is also clearly not enough time for projects like building a birdhouse, learning a language, throwing a dinner party or growing a garden; when you want to immerse yourself in a flow state to learn or create something, a single minute handed to you probably looks like a stressful fast-sweeping second-hand reminding you how quickly time is slipping away and how little you have of it to bring your goals and dreams to life.
TOO LONG
But a minute seems to stretch on forever when you’re late to pick up a loved one and find yourself stuck in traffic, or if you are trying to abstain from doing something you really really want to do RIGHT NOW, like stick your hand back into that bag of salt ‘n vinegar chips for just ONE MORE handful, or snap back at someone on Facebook who said something stupid or mean. In situations like these, pausing for sixty seconds can feel like a painfully looooooong time that you just want to push past or punch through.
A minute also feels significantly lengthy when you’re trying to SPRINT at full speed, or lift and hold a heavy weight when your body is not built for or accustomed to such demanding physical feats; if you’ve been bed-ridden for months and suddenly try to run at top speed for a solid minute straight, you bet you’ll be aware of every single second being WAY longer than your legs and lungs can bear once you get past the first ten or twenty seconds!
IT’S SUBJECTIVE
Our perception of time is super subjective; whether one minute is long time or very short depends on what you’re individually feeling, thinking, and doing in that minute and the moments leading up to it.
The subjective nature of our perception of time means each one of us has the profound ability to shrink or stretch time through our mindful thoughts and actions.
OneMinuteDifference.com is a tool to help you recognize, practice and strengthen your time-bending superpowers. One minute at a time.
So much can (and does) happen in every single minute.
Keep coming back to learn how even one single minute minute a day can make a big easy difference in your life.