Breathe In, Breathe Out

I thought it might be a good idea to counteract some of my more... passionate posts with a little bit a calmness.
Tonight's theme is inner peace.

I won't even mention the Nation Destroyers, or their hateful, narrow-minded views. Well, except right then.

Do you know the feeling of success? I don't mean when you get a promotion, or you ace your final. No. I'm talking about small successes, every day things.
It can become difficult to spot them in today's world. There are oodles of images and stimulants trying to remind us all the time of our imperfections. Advertisements, especially.
"I have more money" "My insurance is better" "I'm thinner" "My boobs are bigger" "Yes, but mine look more real" ...

So, it becomes hard to trace the tendrils of the true success. The itsy-bitsy events that happen once in a while that make you think, "Damn, I'm good."
I have found mine.

I take Tang Soo Do, a traditional Korean Martial Art established in the early 50's. The name can be translated to mean lots of things, but the two I know are: Martial and Moral School; and The Art of the Worthy Hand.
The principle is character building, and the rule is respect for yourself and others.
Not once are you allowed to scream, at the top of your lungs, "My Kung Fu is better than your Kung Fuuuuuuuu!"
That would kind of ruin the mood.

Now, every two months there is a Promotion Test, a graduation ceremony. The students gather and stretch together before they line up. Then, they meditate in silence for a moment. Afterward, they rush back and wait for their name to be called. Once they're up, they demonstrate what they have learned. Also, there's some sparring involved for Mid-ranks and higher.

But after all that comes the board break. I won't attempt to spell that in Korean.
Again, each student awaits his/her turn. And then, through sheer skill, Providence or blind luck, he or she is expected to snap an 3/4 inch board (solid wood) with one of his or her various appendages.

The last one I had to do was called a "Jump 360 Degree Back Kick". Which is fancy talk for, "yeah, right".
The kick was incredibly hard. I failed 60% of the time during practice. I was nervous, sweating, tired from the demonstration bit, exhausted from the sparring...
But:
I succeeded.

The advanced students will tell you, if you ask them, that it doesn't hurt if you break the board. It only hurts if you don't. Seemed strange and illogical to me when I was told, but it's true.
When the board snaps, I feel on top of the world.

My point is, that I think this lesson carries over into the outside world. It only hurts if the board doesn't break; or: you only feel lousy if you aren't trying your best at what you do.

Wow. That was pretty Zen.