Most people prefer short flights. One hour, two hours—those are easy enough to “sit off,” as we say in German. Me? I complain. “Two hours? That’s barely enough to read half a book!” On our three-hour flight back home from Lisbon, I read nearly all of The Catcher in the Rye. It was perfect!
If it weren’t for the bad air, lack of space, and difficulty with sleeping, I’d love eight, nine, even ten-hour flights too. Even now I don’t mind them. Lock me in a box for several hours, and I might actually get something done that feels both productive and meaningful.
There’s that quote from Einstein about time being relative. The example he uses is sitting on a stove vs. talking to a pretty girl. And while everything in life has an inherent time-relativity to it, what Einstein didn’t cover was that you, too, have the power to influence this dynamic.
You can take an event that feels long and make it short. This could mean accepting your circumstances or turning them into a fun game. Similarly, you can draw out what passes too quickly by savoring it to the fullest. Smell your coffee deeply rather than chugging it in one sip. Don’t watch your favorite show on 1.5x speed.
Take a long flight, and try to get it to feel short. See how much you can do in a one-hour train ride. Or take your commute as an opportunity to stare out the window.
Time is relative—but so are your emotions and perception. Make sure you use all the ingredients when mixing your cocktail of life.
