We found ourselves in a creepy old house where many murders occurred, and people had been rumored to have gone missing. As we solved the various challenges that presented themselves and gained access to the different parts of the house, we realized that some pretty heinous stuff had happened in the various rooms. Interestingly though, we each had our own experiences. One of us was relaxed and enjoying the process of gathering the needed information for each puzzle and learning more about the story related to the experience. However, the other partner was frustrated as they didn’t feel like they had all the necessary parts to solve the puzzles.

After we successfully uncovered who was responsible for the murders and what happened to the missing people, the game master asked us how much time we thought we had left (there was no countdown clock in the experience). The teammate who was frustrated throughout the experience though we’d barely made it out in time, and the partner who was calm and relaxed during the adventure accurately identified the team as escaping a good 15 minutes early.

After discussing our experiences, and those that have occurred in the past, we found it interesting how much one’s emotional state can affect how one sees situations, including their perception of time. For example, when we are fearful, angry, frustrated, or experiencing various other negative emotions, it can seem like we don’t have enough time. However, we don’t have the same frantic notion of time when we are calm, relaxed, even enjoying ourselves. Think about how this can apply to life in general. Maybe we’re frustrated while working on a particular task, but if we take the time to relax and remain calm, we will have much more “time” to figure it out.