Inner Peace vs Innards in Pieces

If a Miss America contestant came up to me spouting cheerfully about wanting world peace right this instant, I would punch her in the right boob and then backhand her for good measure.  Ok, I'd rather it be Michelle Bachmann spewing about the evils of tehGeys.   

How can I be certain those would be my exact actions?  Simple.  I'm right handed, so landing a good swing with my right fist lands it squarely on her right boob (all things considered equal in height and such), leaving me time to backhand her with the same offending hand while she grabbed said injured mammary and looked right at me with that wounded puppy shock and awe with mouth agape - ripe for the smacking.  I can almost hear the Prodigy pumping in the soundtrack for this moment in time.  Wait, maybe it'd be a Tom Petty tune.  

Gee, Barbara.  You are always the epitome of calm and rationale.  You study the Buddhist life path.  You are always settling arguments with compassion.  The Dalai Lama calls you for meditation advice when China is pissing him off and he wants to choke a bitch.  AND you're so pretty!
This is all so true, but there is an often overlooked caveat - I am PRACTICING this path in my life.  At this moment, I'd say that I need a little lot more practice. 

Yet, I still feel as though with all that is happening to me, in me, and around me - I am proud of how well I am holding up.  I am facing down lying political pricks who are stripping me bare of every basic right.  I'm fighting for my job and the jobs of the people I work with, since I'm in negotiations for my union.  I am battling fear over my own health issues.  I am at war grumpy with US Immigration and doing all in my power to stop them from separating me from my wife through deportation.  I have wanted to break down entirely and give up, but some good shines down.  Even though sometimes the good in disguised as a breakdown in our car, a tow to another state, sickness, obstacles - I smile back to think it meant spending more time with people I love, being 'forced' to slow things down, and generally look at things in different ways. 

Yep.  I'm still practicing and learning.  I'd love to be omnipotent and omniscient, and omnipresent, and omnivorous...  wait - I AM that last one for certain.  Well, the rest of 'em.  Yet, that would signal the end of my journey - and I don't think I'm really that evolved smart yet.  So, I subject myself to this world and it's people, and work very hard to overcome my own obstacles and practice compassion in my every day life.  Hopefully, I will continue to grow and brave these storms.  

In the meantime, I'm just itching to run into a pageant girl while I am still amped with residual unfocused anger.   Actually, I'm not picky.  I'd be just as happy punching a priest, nun, paedophile, country music star, or any Kardashian.  Oh Hell - I just want it to be Bachmann!