I was walking down the street the other day, when I learned an invaluable lesson from a little boy, who is probably no more than three years old.  He was walking with his parents, when suddenly he fell down.  Seconds later, he got up, shook himself off and laughed.  “That was fun,” he said, “I liked falling.”

What an incredible lesson.  Instead of being afraid to fail, or embarrassed, or humiliated by falling, we can enjoy the process of learning as we work toward our goals.  If we miss a step, we can shake the dust off and start again.  Like the little boy, we can move forward with the brilliance of not taking ourselves too seriously.

Achieving our goals is just one step in the process of manifesting our blessings.  One of the most significant rewards is what we learn when we resolve to be God’s fullest expression.  Many resolutions end up on our list year after year because they are not merely goals, they are decisions to change.  Change takes place through the growth that occurs while reaching our goals – by making mistakes and learning from them, by failing and trying again, by getting off track and starting again, by falling and getting back up.

Even when the Israelites fell – by being exiled from Jerusalem and sent to Babylon – going from a consciousness of peace and harmony to an environment of chaos and confusion, God promised them that they would be back. Stay the course, God told them, resolve to be your best: “For I know the plans I have for you . . .Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you a hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 2:10-11 NIV)  Plans to manifest your prophecy, your dreams, your resolutions.

Our resolution to do God’s good cannot help but succeed “[f]or we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so that we may do them” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV).  Even when we believe that we don’t have what it takes, God performs the work that we are appointed to do.  (Job 23:14 NKJV)

Joseph is one of the greatest role models of how to fall and get back up.  He didn’t just fall into a ditch, his brothers put him in one and then sold him into slavery.  Joseph’s life as dreamer and visionary provides us with several tools to help us fulfill the plans that God has for us.

Resolve to keep your dreams between you and God.  One of the reasons Joseph experienced so much misery is because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He wanted to tell everybody about every dream that he had.  Many friends, frien-emies and enemies operate from a consciousness of resentment and jealousy that is not always supportive of our resolutions.  Even those who mean us good still project their fears and doubts on the clear canvas of our infinite possibilities.  The only way to avoid wasting energy on their negative vibrations is not tell them what we are doing.

We often seek approval from other people.  Out of our own insecurity, we want them to feel good for us when the only “one” we have to be accountable to is Spirit.  We want to believe that another person’s support will somehow allow us to reach our goals faster.  But the truth is that when we receive the divine ideas that are calling us, they have already taken shape in the ethers.  Telling others about our resolutions detracts from our co-creative process with the universe.  We waste time telling others “I’m going to do it,” when the universe is trying to teach us that “it is already done.”

Resolve not to succumb to temptation.  We all have our Achilles’ heel.  The Greek mythological legend teaches us that Achilles was dipped by his mother into a river which offered powers of invulnerability.  Every part of his body was covered by the magical water except for his heel.  Achilles grew up to be a man of war who survived many great battles until he was shot in his heel by a poisonous arrow.  Our Achilles’ heel is where we are most vulnerable.  We know we are making progress on the path towards our resolutions, when it steps out to trip us.

Our Achilles heel can be greed; it can be arrogance; it can be ignorance; it can be lust; it can be laziness; it can be fear.  But Joseph teaches us that whatever our vulnerability is, it can be overcome.  When Potiphar’s wife, representing desire, demanded that Joseph go to bed with her and later falsely accused Joseph, he took the high road by refusing to submit to the desires of the flesh or the fears of the mind.  He paid a heavy price by going to jail but by doing so, he did not succumb to temptation.

When we sacrifice sense pleasure for spiritual fulfillment, we open the floodgates to the manifestation of our transformation.  We grow in character and that growth will reward us eternally.  Jesus was so serious about this principle that he said, “if your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”  (Matthew 5:29)  We know when we are being tempted – when we desire to do something lacking in integrity or harmful to someone else or even ourselves.  But when we stay on the path of honesty, love and integrity, we triumph no matter what.

Resolve to leave the past in the past.  Despite all the harm that was done to Joseph, he never cursed, condemned or sought revenge against anyone.  Since he released the past, he was never stuck in it.  Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “it is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.”  Manessah means he who forgets.  When we worry about what we shoulda, woulda, coulda did, we begin stagnant like Lot’s wife.  She became a pillar of salt.  Regardless of what you have or have not accomplished, you can start where you are to make lasting changes.

Resolve to succeed even in the presence of adversity.  Joseph names his second son Ephraim, saying “it is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”  Ephraim means very fruitful, the ability to affirm good.  Joseph was left for dead, sold into slavery, unlawfully imprisoned, lied about, and double-crossed – and he still came out on top.  God prepared a table before Joseph in the presence of his enemies.  If he wouldn’t have ended up in slavery, he wouldn’t have been in Egypt.  If he hadn’t been sold into slavery, he wouldn’t have learned how to manage or been exposed to great wealth.  If he hadn’t been betrayed by his master’s wife, he wouldn’t have ended up in prison and without prison he wouldn’t have met Pharaoh – who made him a billionaire.

Joseph’s brothers did everything but kill him, but what they did against Joseph resulted in great accomplishments.  It doesn’t matter what others intend for you, what matters is what you intend for yourselves – through your obedience to what god is calling you to do.  Joseph told his brothers “don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?  You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”  (Genesis 50:20)  You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.  Thank you, you should tell the appearance of every set-back or delay or mistake because it strengthened you and ensured that you stayed the course.

 Resolve that your good is here.  When you know that your good is here, there is no need to struggle, stress or worry – all you have to do is trust that it is taking shape before your very eyes.  We don’t have to control the details because Spirit has already shaped the end result.  God knows what our resolutions are before we even list them.  Everything and everyone is part of the perfect divine good of our accomplishment.

 Joseph asked Pharaoh – substance – for whatever he wanted and he received it.  When God is our Master Mind partner, the energy of the universe intensifies to co-create with us.  In Genesis 46:31, Joseph said “I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘my brothers and my father’s household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come to me.’  And [Pharaoh] prepared a place for them.”  All we have to do in order to attain our good is ask.  Resolutions are our subconscious agreement with the universe that we – the Pharaoh or ego in us – will allow our good to take shape.

 Resolve to serve God with gratitude.  Realize that your resolutions, your divine changes are not just for you.  Our victories are shared by all.  We receive in order to give back.  Give with the realization that whatever you give will be returned many times over.  Joseph told the Egyptians, “now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground.  But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children.”  The people are your thoughts; the seed is the creative idea of the word of god; the ground or the field is the universe; the food or the crop is the outer manifestation of substance.  Five symbolizes spirit – transformation.  Know that every aspect of what you resolve must be grounded in Spirit, grow in Spirit and return to Spirit.  Only then will you truly be blessed.

 So what is happening with your resolutions? 

Regardless of our progress, they are always waiting for us to give shape to them.  They are always co-conspiring with the universe to push us to be all that we are called to be.  They are always speaking in the silence, so we can hear the universe’s plans for us when we take time to listen. 

As Joseph, one of our most phenomenal dreamers said, the sun, moon and stars will bow down to us – to make our dreams come true.    No one is greater in your house than you are.  Spirit liberates us through our dreams, through the visions that we resolve to manifest.  Nothing and no one can take your good from you.  Judge not by where you fell: where you last stopped or abandoned your dream, or even seemed to have failed. But resolve to jump back up, dust yourself off, and laugh.

When you really know that at the absolute good that is everywhere present is always expressing as you, you have a lot to be happy about.