When in grammar school, I walked like a duck. I forget who pointed this out to me; regardless, it was then that I decided to straighten my walk. It may have taken months or years, but my duck walk eventually subsided. Shockingly, now decades later, the duck walk has returned.
While walking our dog in our new neighborhood recently, my husband shot a minute of video to send our kids. I asked to see the video, before sending. My head snapped. What the heck! Who is that person, and why is she walking like a duck? Did you notice this? My husband politely tilted his head, “Well, I have noticed a little, but…”
How can you not tell me I’ve been walking like a duck this whole time?
Ugh! My feet and legs were reverting to their childhood ways. And it was all caught on video! Although a more subtle duck walk now, I still see shades of the old legs apart and feet turned outward.
Many of us cuddle efforts to change our walk, straighten our backs, or tuck in our stomachs. But sometimes, there are forces that work against these efforts. For example, I know a young lady who works remotely. After hitting the snooze button once or twice in the morning, Sam rolls over and sits up in bed. Her pillows provide limited support; she spends several hours slightly hunched over her laptop. It is likely that, down the line, Sam will have to make a cognizant effort to align her posture.
As we move through life, we might notice things that need a little bit of pruning or tucking. So, we do the pruning, make the adjustments. But sometimes new feats provoke us, and our attention strays away from the now "has-been" problems. We find ourselves relaxing on particular fronts. Our bones return to their familiar sockets. We become less worried about this, and more worried about that.
Since my elementary school days, so much has come up on my "need to adjust" radar. Eye glasses improve my vision; braces straighten my teeth; hair color covers...well you get my point. Admittingly, there is one area I have never addressed...my dance moves. Folks it never ends! I can make a duck-umentary about all this.
Circling back to my duck walk. After some reflection, I have decided not to sweat it. I will adjust when I notice a significant divergence in the way I paddle.
This coming year, some of us will resolve to make changes that will adjust and improve some parts of ourselves. What I'm saying here is don't be so hard on yourselves if your resolutions meander a little. This posture will not make you a lame duck.
Not everything has to be perfect. Take a lesson from the book, Henry's Awful Mistake. This book is about a Duck who is trying to cook a nice meal for his friend Clara. While he is cooking, he sees an ant and tries to kill it. He keeps missing and ends up destroying everything in the process of trying to kill a tiny ant.
Don't let the tiny ants destroy your duck soup.
A quick disclaimer. I have read that in some cases, one’s duck walk may have more to do with the way one’s hips are aligned. Although the feet do not look aligned or neutral, the hip joint will likely be just that, neutral, sitting nicely in the hip joint/socket.
Reference: Henry's Awful Mistake, by Robert Quackenbush
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