Here are some interesting marinates on the concept of time by Paul Davies in Scientific American
The most straightforward conclusion is that both past and future are fixed. For this reason, physicists prefer to think of time as laid out in its entirety—a timescape, analogous to a landscape—with all past and future events located there together. It is a notion sometimes referred to as block time. Completely absent from this description of nature is anything that singles out a privileged, special moment as the present or any process that would systematically turn future events into present, then past, events. In short, the time of the physicist does not pass or flow.
Arianna Huffington wrote in response to Davies’ paper:
I love this because “block time” helps me see the big picture - there is literally both no time and all the time in the world.
I think the notion of block time is intriguing. I’m sure many of us are familiar with the theory why children lament that their birthdays take forever to arrive, whereas adults feel that time flies faster as they get older. If we subscribe to the notion of block time, each year comprises a lower percentage of the total amount of our lifespan. In other ways, each year represents a thinner block of time. That’s why we lament its increasingly transcendental existence.
If we can train ourselves not to be shackles by the confines of time and learn to value every moment as it is, perhaps we won’t keep feeling that we are a galloping stallion flogged by the whip of Father Time. If we perceive every event as a blob on this piece of paper depicting the entire time the Universe has gifted us, maybe we will be able to live more in the here and now rather than pining for the past or yearning for the future.
I guess I just want to feel less rushed about my remaining years on this planet, even though I ironically feel more compelled to leave something impactful behind to make my existence count. Is this a weighing scale present in your mind?