“You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” – Steve Jobs

 Fortunately, the snow will melt, the days will continue to become longer, and spring will emerge to comfort us. With those changes, we will regain our equilibrium. My friend, Dr. Nancy Mramor is developing a series How to Have the Happiest Year of Your Life. She has graciously asked me to contribute to the series. I have written an article that speaks to how introverts and extraverts develop social contacts and how that may impact their emotional well being. Dr. Mramor will be publishing an E-zine to which many people will contribute content. Stay tuned for more information.

I ask them to beware of their Inner Critic emerging from the closet of their minds and criticising them with comments such as “You’re too young, too old, you lack skills, you don’t have the courage, you’ll never change.” In my experience, in my own life and while working with my clients, I don’t see the Inner Critic as some demon, but rather as an aspect of our ego which is actually trying to protect us from stepping into the unknown and taking risks that are frightening to the child within us. It’s human to experience such thoughts and feelings, but it’s not fruitful to allow them to keep us imprisoned in our conditioning.

Growth requires change and taking some risks. We are entering the unkown. We cannot design and take charge of our lives without accepting our feelings and yet doing what needs to be done to experience fulfillment. Are you listening to your Inner Critic? Are you overwhelmed by your Inner Critic? Are you able to be with your fears and resistance and yet design and manifest a life of meaning and fulfillment?

While working on the article, I wondered what  you, visitors to my site, have to say about happiness and fulfillment. I’m enlisting you to describe what happiness and fulfillment mean to you. What is happiness? What is fulfillment? Are they the same, similar or different? Please check in and share your views with me.

This question emerges from within all of the earth’s great spiritual traditions. Of course we might also ponder that great philosopher Peggy Lee, when she asked, “Is that all there is?” We are constantly searching for meaning and fulfillment in our lives, whether we acknowledge it or not. In the Zen tradition, teachers pose many questions to their students.

If you are wrestling with Peggy’s question or any other, for that matter, you may want to attend a lecture by my teacher, Janet Jiryu Abels, on “What is Zen?” To be sure, the word “zen” is attached to everything from golf to interior design to yoga. For all I know there may well be a Nose-Picker’s Guide to Zen Enlightenment.  This event focuses on the real deal. A true teacher,  Janet will  manifest the nature of Zen practice in her lecture and provide an orientation to zazen, the core discipline of that practice. “What is Zen?” will be offered at 7:00 pm Thursday, March 25th at the Chatham Village Clubhouse on Mt. Washington. To register or for more information, please contact me here or visit www.plumblossomzendo.org.