There is progress whether ye are going forward or backward! The

Hear, O wanderer of time, the words of Edgar Cayce, the mystic known as the sleeping prophet, who proclaimed: “There is progress whether ye are going forward or backward! The thing is to move!” This teaching is both a riddle and a command, for it unveils the secret that life itself is motion, and that stagnation is the only true defeat. To walk forward is to gain wisdom, to stumble backward is to learn humility, but to stand still, neither daring nor striving, is to wither unseen.

To understand this, consider the river: it may rush swiftly toward the sea or twist backward in eddies and swirls, but always it moves, always it shapes the land. So too the soul must remain in motion. To go forward is to chase new horizons, to conquer ignorance, to attempt the noble and the great. To go backward is to meet failure, to stumble, to taste loss—but even this, too, is progress, for it teaches, refines, and awakens. The only barren soil is inaction, where no seed is ever sown.

History itself proclaims this truth. Consider Christopher Columbus, who sought a westward route to Asia. His journey did not lead him to his intended destination; by some measures he went “backward,” for he did not reach the land he sought. Yet his movement reshaped the world, altering the destiny of nations and opening new paths of discovery. His progress lay not in accuracy but in motion, for the act of daring became the root of transformation.

So too, Thomas Edison in his quest for the electric light failed more than a thousand times. To the eyes of men, these were steps backward. Yet in each misstep lay progress, for each failure revealed another path not to be taken. When at last light shone from the filament, it was not a single forward leap but the sum of countless backward falls. Thus Cayce’s words shine true: whether advancing or retreating, the one who moves is the one who grows.

But woe to those who choose stillness! For fear freezes them, pride chains them, and hesitation robs them of the lessons that only motion can give. The one who waits endlessly for perfect clarity before acting will find that the seasons of opportunity have passed, and the harvest belongs to the bolder. Better to err in striving than to rot in idleness. Life itself honors motion, for all that lives must move, breathe, grow, or perish.

O listener, take this counsel into your heart. Do not fear mistakes, nor dread failure. Instead, fear only the paralysis of indecision. Begin, even if uncertain. Take steps, even if they lead first to error. For every error is a teacher, and every effort carves a way forward. Motion itself awakens strength, builds courage, and prepares the soul for greater victories.

Thus let the lesson endure: There is progress whether ye are going forward or backward! The thing is to move! Walk boldly, strive earnestly, and let no fear of failure keep you still. For the road belongs not to the perfect, but to the moving. And in the end, when you look back upon the journey, you will see that even your backward steps were guiding you toward the summit of your destiny.