LIKE A DUCK :)

You ever notice a duck in a pond? How it floats so peacefully on top of the body of water… almost gliding along without any real effort.  The perfect picture of calm. The epitome of relaxation and composure.  No splashing. No disturbing the surface. No violent ripples left behind.  You could easily think that ducks just move, well without any effort at all. Almost as if that is the nature of a duck. To move, to glide, to flow smoothly from point A to point B.  To the naked eye, from up above the water it is all nice and tranquil… But if you were to look below the surface, the truth would be apparent. In reality the duck is really working hard.  Its feet paddle vigorously to push and propel the weight of its body through the water. Its tail works as a rudder, fighting against the current so as to keep the duck soundly on its intended path.  The whooshing water forms little whirlpools, the ducky’s leg muscles strain against gallons of water, and its heart pumps feverishly to maintain adequate oxygen to its tissues.  This happens all the while, the average on looker assumes ducks are the most chill animals ever. Wrong.

I want to be like a duck. Huh? Yes. Ducks got this whole human interaction, success-in-life thing down pat. How? Life seems to be so much about remaining confident and calm under real pressure… well at least externally remaining calm and cool.  Internally, where NOBODY else can see, your brain is paddling away trying to discern appropriate actions, your heart (the spiritual heart, not the muscle) is pushing and pulling against the current of every day decisions and your whole being struggles in this pond that we call life.  Success, at least it seems to me, is achieved only with the ability to glide across the surface confidently and calmly while really working your butt off to stay afloat.

I heard the duck analogy in reference to the way a surgeon must be under pressure but I find it to be so applicable to just being human. Being a good person is hard sometimes and the pressures of trying to attain levels of success require a level of… ‘Duckiness.’

So, I guess… QUACK QUACK!