Sunbonnet Soliloquy

By Jewell Ellen Smith

How to Walk

Walking is a simple matter. Or, is it?

We learn to walk at our mother’s knee about the time we’re a year old and keep at it until we reach that proverbial “one foot in the grave” day.

But there’s more to walking than merely moving along by lifting the feet alternately, with a part of one foot always on the ground.

Some say that you can judge a person’s personality and character by the manner in which he walks. If he sort of shuffles along, aimlessly dragging his feet, we say he is lazy or perhaps slow-witted, or both. But if the person moves at a brisk, forceful pace, we say he has real purpose, that he is a “go-getter.”

Any time we see a woman tripping along with an exaggerated side-to-side pelvic movement, we say to ourselves -- or to the person standing next to us -- that she is too “prissy,” or, that her gait is clearly a come-on.

The unfortunate overly fat person is likely to waddle. That’s about the only way he can lug his excess, weighty blubber along. His character traits could be excellent or despicable. The waddle reveals only his problem.

The person who has a plodding step is likely to be very determined in his outlook on life. He is the slow but steady tortoise type who will win the race, as opposed to the fast paced, flighty rabbit who sometimes goes swiftly and sometimes lolls in the shade.

Earlier this summer I read a news article in which a physical education professor said that a person’s walk can be “a barometer of feelings, attitudes, and moods.” According to her, a “good arm swing expresses an open, receptive mood. When arms are limp and hands are tucked into pockets, the walker probably wants to be alone.”

Dancers and gymnasts, the professor pointed out, are easy to spot. They walk with a bouncy, up-down movement. It’s a springy step that comes from well-conditioned foot and leg muscles.

The “macho man,” according to the physical education expert, often walks with attempted swagger. His feet swing out with each step, causing a slight rocking of the upper body. This, he thinks, will impress you with his masculinity!

Why not check your own manner of walking? Start in the kitchen. If you flit around the room several times to accomplish one task when a very few steps would do the same thing, it might be a sign that you are not methodical, that you don’t have everything under control!

Or, the next time you get to the commissary (grocery store) a few minutes before the doors open, it might be fun to try to analyze the personality and state of mind of individuals as they arrive by two’s and three’s and come to stand in line with you.

Those who move leisurely and then stand still may have the “patience of Job.” Or, they may have had a very good breakfast. Or, they may not have a thousand other things to do that day.

Those who trot over from their cars and then can’t stand still as they wait may have a high-powered nervous system. Or, they may just be impatient to get going. Or, they may be anxious to get inside and out of the hot sun.

There are countless ways to do this moving along which is called walking. People can amble, stroll, waddle, glide, swagger, shuffle, bounce, strut, plod, trudge, traipse, limp, stagger, hobble, totter, tramp, march, or move in other manners.

Perhaps we should not be judging other folks or ourselves by any style of walking. After all, the way you walk is not half as important as where you go!

Let me propose this:

Go to visit a friend. Go to help a neighbor. Go to worship your Maker.

Go often to a quiet place where you can decide how best to walk through life.

Published September 1980. Click your browser’s ‘Back’ button to return.