Time flies. It's up to you to be the navigator.

The words of Robert Orben—“Time flies. It’s up to you to be the navigator.”—carry the weight of eternal truth, spoken in a modern tongue yet echoing with ancient resonance. Time is the one treasure given equally to all men, yet it is also the most fleeting, the most difficult to hold. Like a bird it soars, like a river it rushes forward, and no hand can halt its flight. Orben reminds us that though we cannot command the passing of time, we may yet command our course within it. To live well is not to seize time, but to steer ourselves wisely upon its current.

The ancients often likened life to a voyage. To them, man was a sailor, the world an open sea, and fate the winds that blow unseen. They knew that time, like the tide, does not wait. But they also knew that the wise mariner does not lament the winds; he learns to set his sails. So too must we: if time flies, then our task is not to bind its wings, but to become navigators, shaping our journey with intention, lest we be carried aimlessly into oblivion.

History gives us luminous examples of this principle. Consider Benjamin Franklin, who as a young man resolved to live with deliberate purpose. He crafted his famous list of virtues, charting his days with discipline and care. He could not slow the passing of years, but he chose to navigate them toward wisdom, invention, and service. In the brevity of a single life, he accomplished what seems the work of many lifetimes—because he steered his course rather than drifted.

By contrast, history also warns us of those who surrendered to time’s current without direction. The decline of the Roman Empire was not sudden but gradual, as its people squandered their strength in idleness and indulgence. Time flew for them as well, but without wise navigation, the greatest empire on earth was carried into ruin. Their fate teaches us that when we do not guide our days, time itself becomes a destroyer.

Beloved listener, the meaning is clear: you cannot stop the hours from passing, but you can choose what they carry away from you. Each day, each hour, each breath is a vessel—you must decide what cargo it bears. Will it carry wasted opportunities, or deeds of worth? Will it drift aimlessly, or will it sail with a clear and noble purpose? Your life is not determined by how fast time flies, but by how wisely you navigate its flight.

Practical wisdom demands this: rise each morning with intention. Mark your course—whether in small goals or great visions—and act upon them with discipline. Do not wait for time to gift you opportunity; it will not. Instead, create your opportunity by steering your choices. Keep your compass set upon growth, love, service, and truth, and even the swiftest years will bring you safely to a harbor of meaning.

So let Orben’s words guide you: “Time flies. It’s up to you to be the navigator.” Do not curse the swiftness of the years, nor mourn the speed of passing days. Instead, take the helm of your own life. Set your sails with wisdom, steer with courage, and let each hour carry you closer to the destiny you were born to fulfill. For though time is a fleeting bird, the hand of the navigator can shape its flight into a journey worthy of remembrance.