"You got to remember that you don't own time, it's time that owns you."

--Stephen King, "My Pretty Pony"

Alan dives into the elastic nature of time this week, a concept he got from a Stephen King short story. He argues that time is totally weird and feels different depending on a person's situation, age, and mood.

• The Bonus Day: The whole thing started when Alan woke up at 3:30 a.m., convinced it was a work day (Tuesday). Then it hit him: It's Monday. He doesn't work Mondays! It felt like he got an entire day given back to him—a huge, weird, little time-traveling gift.

• The "Freakout" Factor: He observes that things that are stressful right now—like when his office phones were down for three days—feel like they'll be a nightmare forever. He quickly realized, though, that those things are usually forgotten by next week, proving that "this too shall pass."

• Time's Sandpaper: He looks back at the big, scary things, like being terrified about becoming a dad or the stress of dental school, and notes that now those sharp edges are all smoothed out. Time has a funny way of making those tough memories almost fond.

• The "Old Person" Cliché: Now he's the one saying it: "just hold onto these moments." Seeing his oldest son's marching band career wrapping up hit him how fast it all goes. That "blink and you'll miss it" thing is totally real, he says.

• The Light at the End: On the financial side, time actually works out. Those massive commitments, like the mortgages on his house and office, that felt endless when they started? Mead is finally seeing the finish line. He finds it wild that they eventually just... end.

He wraps up by encouraging listeners to think about their own perception of time and remember: whatever you're dealing with, it's going to work out and move on.

Some links from the show:

• "My Pretty Pony" Wikipedia page

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