It's crazy how fast time flies and how things progress.

In the words of Nathan Chen, a champion upon the ice whose body has tasted both discipline and glory, there is uttered a reflection for all generations: “It’s crazy how fast time flies and how things progress.” Though it appears at first a casual remark, spoken in the wonder of a young man who has conquered great trials, its depth belongs to the ages. For time, that unseen river, flows swifter than the eye can behold, and progress, the unfolding of effort and change, is the fruit borne upon its waters.

The ancients, too, marveled at the swiftness of time. The poet Virgil declared that “fugit inreparabile tempus”—irretrievable time flees. One moment we are children chasing the morning sun, and in the blink of an eye, we find ourselves gazing at the twilight of our years. Nathan Chen, standing in the light of his own accomplishments, speaks as one who has suddenly looked back at the long road of discipline, sacrifice, and growth, and realized how swiftly the seasons have carried him from trembling beginnings to triumphant mastery.

This truth is not only for athletes, but for all who live. Progress is the hidden companion of passing days. A seed becomes a tree, not by sudden miracle, but by the secret work of each season. A student becomes a master through countless hours unseen, while time glides silently past. And then, one day, we awaken and say with Chen: “How fast it all has gone, how far I have come.”

History itself bears witness to this rhythm of time and progress. Think of the Wright brothers, who once trembled as their fragile craft lifted a few feet from the ground. The world looked on with curiosity but little faith. Yet scarcely sixty years later, men stood upon the surface of the moon, gazing back at the Earth as gods might gaze upon a jewel. The same astonishment that Chen felt upon looking back at his journey is mirrored in the journey of humanity itself: the span of a single lifetime transforming impossibility into reality.

But hidden in these words also lies a warning. For if time flies, it does not wait. Each day squandered is a treasure lost forever. Progress may happen by small steps, but it happens only if we act. Without action, time still flows, but it carries us not to growth, only to regret. Nathan Chen’s astonishment is born of labor and sacrifice; his progress was not by chance, but by devotion. Thus, when we hear him speak, we must ask ourselves: when time has flown for us, what progress shall we see behind us?

Let us then take this teaching to heart. Do not waste the swift hours in idleness or despair. Choose your aim, and let each day be a step toward it. Learn, grow, endure, and act, so that when you, too, awaken to the speed of time’s passing, you will find not emptiness, but the harvest of your diligence.

Therefore, beloved listener, embrace the truth: time flies—faster than you think. But let it not fly past you in vain. Anchor your days with purpose, harness your progress with discipline, and rejoice in the wonder of how far you may journey before your own eyes open in astonishment. For life, like Nathan Chen’s path upon the ice, is both fleeting and glorious, and those who treasure its flight will leave behind not mere memories, but legacies.