Smile-breaks
How do you walk?
She bounced. I looked again. She was bouncing! Every time she put her heel down, it came up off the sidewalk with a little bounce and when her toes hit the ground, they bounced up, too. Bounce! Bounce! Bounce!
I was sitting at the traffic light, waiting for it to turn green. You know how boring that is. So I looked out the window to see what was going on out there and that's when I saw her bouncing along.
I'd never seen anyone bounce-walk. Curious, I looked across the street to see if I could watch how someone else walked. A hefty guy in a dark shirt and dark jeans was walking toward the next light. No bounce. Just regular steps. Step, step, step.
There must be all kinds of walking, now that I think about it. Some people put their toes down first, then their heel, then the toes and back again to the heel, kind of rocking toes to heel, toes to heel. Rock, rock, rock.
How about the stompers? Do you ever stomp-walk? Heel and toes down together all at once. Hard. Stomp, stomp, stomp. Do you do that? Does your friend do that? Watch out if they're doing it.
I've seen some people taking little, fast steps. They're usually trying to keep up with the puppy on the leash or with that guy ahead of them who takes such big, long steps. Maybe they're just trying to get in those ten thousand steps for the day on their FitBit—thinking they'll get it done faster with lots of little steps instead of ten thousand long strides.
Speaking of which, striding is a good way of walking if you want to look important. Put your foot forward as far as you can get it— without falling over—and then pick up the other foot and stretch it out to an impressive stride. Purpose. Walking with purpose. Stride, stride, stride.
Do the shuffle! The feet don't want to leave the pavement; they have a fear of flying so they cling to the ground. Plus they're enjoying the scenery too much to bother lifting their feet. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. . .
How do you walk? it's hard to see how your feet are moving down there so you'll probably have to ask someone. Someone honest. Someone not afraid to tell you the truth—or who won't get jealous of your perfect walking style. Or you can take this little quiz.
HOW DO YOU WALK?
Find out in six easy steps
- Do you feel the higher altitude when you walk? You're a bouncer.
- Do you itch for a front porch and music with a beat? You're a rocker.
- Do you prefer peas or broccoli? If peas, you're a strider: if broccoli, well, I don't know what to say. Who likes broccoli?
- Are you easy-going, never in a hurry? You're a shuffler.
- Do you have definite opinions? For sure you're a stomper.
- Do you love having fun and laughing? You're a lickety-split walker.
Next time you're out and about, take a look at all the walkers. You might find someone who walks just like you. And then you'll know. How You Walk.