This feels far from a Beginner's Mind. The last few weeks of the year bearing down, the winter solstice upon us. For me this is a time of inner fog and a low ebb of energy usually accompanied by a bad cold. It's been too easy over the years to use this conjunction as reason to beat myself up over my shortcomings. This year, I've been able to avoid the worst of that, so far. It's still hard to deal with a sense that all the momentum building up over the last few months has seemed to fizzle with the shortened days and the first bitter cold of the oncoming winter. As hard as it may be, it's essential not to let this get the better of me.