Darlene Fichter is one of my favourite people. And I say that with all sincerity. Not only is Darlene a dear friend, she is incredibly intelligent and conveys her deep knowledge of library technologies and tools with humour and insight (check out her blog that I’ve linked to on her name). Now she’s shared a way for us human adults to “get over” the everyday frustrations and anger-moments that too often weigh us down and impede our thinking.

There’s much we can learn from animals — ducks, in this case. Ever watched 2 ducks fighting over a scrap of food in the middle of a pond? They physically bicker back and forth and eventually 1 of them wins. The duck who loses heads for another section of the pond where he/she flaps their wings, splashing furiously, then shakes them self off and goes on their way. Done. The anger they’ve no doubt experienced at “losing” is gone - shaken off.

Now think about how we as humans handle this. We have a verbal fencing session with a colleague, a family member, or maybe just someone in line ahead of us for a coffee……and after the encounter the negative emotions plague us for minutes, or maybe even hours (hopefully not for days!). So the next time you experience this, learn from the duck: flap your arms and let those negative thoughts and emotions go. First of all, it’s just funny to be flapping away - and secondly the actual physical actions get those positive endorphins flowing, literally kicking the negative emotions out. The anger, frustration is GONE, and we can adjust our focus to where it should be. Maybe that’s where the expression “just ducky” comes from!

Thanks Darlene — I’m flappin’ and not scrappin’ no matter what’s happenin’.