As the new year approaches, many of us might want to make a change in our lives. It has become a tradition to make a resolution and try to change in the new year, something about ourselves that we would like to improve. And yet, for some of us this tradition of making a New Year’s resolution has become a bit of a gag.

Many have become cynical about the power of these New Year’s resolutions. The inability to stick to a certain goal can be so nebulous and hard for most people, that the New Year’s resolution especially is looked upon with some doubt and skepticism. At best, we may try to be supportive of others who make these resolutions, but many people have grown skeptical and doubtful.

Indeed, the inability to maintain our resolution has become so commonplace and so accepted, that there are many theories to try to explain the reason for this difficulty. Most of these theories boil down to a person’s inability to stick to idealistic and impulsive goals. We are told that we must carefully plan our goals and set appropriate conditions, that there are limits, and that we should go slowly instead of trying to make some drastic change.

But why is this? Why is our will so weak that we must basically tone down and carefully contemplate what we expect from ourselves?

Well, inner alchemists believe that the reason for this weakness is that we forget. And they say that we forget because of the great density, of this physical dimension.

They say that this is a very dense place, a place full of strong gravity, this physical world that we all seem to be a part of. Within it, everything seems to be hard, both in the literal and the figurative sense, meaning that most of us seem to accept the fact that we are hard objects here, surrounded by other hard objects, and that everything that we do must abide by a certain set of laws that treats us and the world around us, like billiard balls on a hard table.

But the power of the inner alchemist is that even though they know directly that this is indeed a very psychically dense place, where gravity pulls down at everything that we do, they can also see directly that the belief by many that we are hard object like things all interacting together, is an illusion.

Alternatively, and through their ability to perceive the true nature of existence, they can see that we are not this hard and heavy illusion, but that instead we are energy, magical things, that have the possibility to change in an instant, if we can only allow ourselves to remember.

You see, our biggest problem is that we forget. The biggest reason why our resolutions fail is that we forget. We are magical beings, and all that we need to do to change is to turn a corner, stop looking back at where we were, and just keep going in that direction until we get somewhere new. But the great gravity and density of this place makes us dense as well, and this opaqueness, this block-headedness, means that instead of remembering to look forward and turn a corner, we instead forget what we are and where we were going. In forgetting, we must always turn around and look back, look back at our past in order to try to remember who we are and where we were going. A part of us seems to forget itself, a part of us, that conscious individuality that I refer to as the ghost in the machine, gets pulled down by the great gravity of this material world, it gets distracted,

its attention gets pulled away, and when this happens, we forget who we are and where we were going.

In order to remember ourselves again, in order to not lose ourselves and try to regain that individuality that we have momentarily lost, our only recourse is to look back at our history, our supposed memory. And in doing so, through the focus of our attention, we are pulled back to that place where we were, instead of that place where we want to be.

And then, having remembered, we must once again resolve to go forward to that new place where we want to go, where we want to be, and start our journey all over again. But soon we will forget, and this cycle will repeat itself over and over again. This is the great horror of the gravity of this place, most of us are stuck because we can never remember ourselves as we move forward, most of us just do not have the strength to do that.

Inner alchemists strive their entire lives to remember themselves. They battle the density of this place in an energetic way, they consider the psychic war an energetic affair. If you are interested in how they battle the great gravity of this physical world, then, I would recommend to you the book, The Magnum Opus, a step-by-step course.

But for now, when it comes to those resolutions that you might or might not make for the coming of this new year, it is my desire to explain to you why such resolutions fail, and to hopefully provide a more adequate explanation, that in turn might help you to understand the nature of reality and yourself a little better. It is really easy to blame ourselves, and in doing so weaken ourselves even more, so that in this depleted and demoralized state, it becomes even harder to move forward into a better place.

In this article, I hope that the inner alchemist’s perspective on why change is so hard, will help you to regain some of your lost power. Often, what weakens us the most, is actually not knowing ‘why’ things are so difficult. Many of us do have a great deal of resolve. Most of the people that I see, are actually quite courageous, they are individuals that get up over and over again, no matter how much the world pulls down at them, they always get up again. But what can get to some, is not knowing why they seem to have such a hard time, and it is my hope that this article helps a little with that.

As to how to maintain your resolve, well, you must now realize that it is all about remembering. For us, one of the most magical things we have ever created as a species is the written word. Nothing has been more precious to our ancient ancestors than our ability to write something down. Indeed, the written word was such a powerful magical tool, that in the old days the practice of erasing, quite literally, others from the written history, was the greatest of all curses.

In order to maintain your resolve, you must remember, and in order to remember you must use the  magical tool of the written word. Make a list of where you want to go, be as specific as is possible for you. Also, make a list of all of the reasons, all of the great pains, of why you want to go there, and finally make a list of all of the wonderful things and the amazing feelings that you will have upon reaching that goal. Read that list to yourself every day, multiple times a day if you have to. The trick of this list is not to engage your memory, but instead just focus on the list. In other words, try to forget that past mentally and just use that list like a kind of magical talisman, that represents your entire quest. Instead of engaging your memory, which will pull you back, just use the list. Think of it like a living thing that represents the complete change that you want to make. You do not need to remember that past, it is on the list if you ever really need it. And more and more, through time, read just the part of the list that tells you where you want to go and why you want to get there. Use your mind consciously by paying less and less attention mentally to that first half of your list, that past explaining why you want to move in the first place, and pay more and more attention to that place where you want to go.

Trust that the list that you have created knows why you want to move forward in the first place, you do not need to remember this, because it is on the list. Read where you want to go, how good it is being there. Where you want to go, what it is to be there, over and over.

Then again read about what it is to be there, what it feels like to be there, what it feels like to be there, over and over.

In time, you will begin to move forward without being pulled back so much. And where you go from there, well, as an inner alchemist I can tell you that there is no limit to how far you can go.

Happy holidays my dear and courageous friends.