Are you a Duck out of Water or Creating Your Very Own Niche to Shine?

My Ducks Were Sad

I went through a phase when I thought that the duck was the greatest animal on earth. But when my parents purchased our first batch of ducklings from Erickson's Grainmill, I was sorely disappointed. I soon learned that they were nothing like what my friend Katie had described about her cuddling ducks.

Giddy and eager to connect, on the car ride home from the mill, I named the ducklings after the four members of my favorite rock band called U2. I imagined sewing a pseudo-leather wardrobe for my new “Bono,” and a tailored mini-cap just for “The Edge.” My new quacking “Larry Mullen Jr” was to get a drum set, while my duckling “Adam Clayton” would have a little base guitar. But when I got home, we soon discovered that my ducklings were withdrawn and out-right unfriendly.

In Walk the Chicks

Our batch of ducks also came with a very large flock of chicks, the tiniest chickens that you ever saw! Little, fluffy, yellow puff-balls of cuteness, you would never believe what these chicks did to those poor ducklings. Ordinarily, I considered baby chickens to be very innocent. Instead, these chicks made themselves the ruling class of their mini-poultry universe; they dominated these pathetic creatures, pushing the ducklings into the corner (even though the chicks were so much smaller). I was shocked!

After seeing my ducklings so awkward and pathetic, I thought maybe I should change their names. ‘These little ducklings were no rock stars,’ we thought to ourselves. I was devastated. 

“What was I doing wrong,” I thought to myself? 

But after we got everyone settled into their new little poultry paradise, we created a make-shift pool for the ducks to play-in. It was then that I learned that ducklings ‘out of water’ are nothing like the ‘real deal.’

In water, the ducks became instantly animated. They were so perky. Once lethargic, their speed and agility suddenly tripled as they swam around in delight. 

The ducklings then used the water at their disposal as a regular water theme park, waterskiing and sliding all over the place. Splashing around in joy and play, they were seemingly unrecognizable from the time of their first arrival.

Another Shock

Not long into their new water experience, the ducklings became aggressive with the chicks! With water as their new safety net, all the roles were reversed. It wasn't long before I considered my once shy and pathetic ducklings to be the big bullies…I was taken aback by their new, unbridled confidence…they were emboldened in their natural habitat (water).

Lessons

Given the wrong dynamics, the wrong environment, we can go through life in a shell-shocked state like our ducklings without water. But in the right environment, we all have the ability to shine. We also have the ability, like these ducklings and chicks, to become little bullies. 

As sophisticated creatures, we can work to create equitable dynamics and transcend much of the animalistic strata found in nature. We can also work to forge an environment where we can shine and help others to shine too.