The Geese Teacher

A couple weeks ago, for a good couple of Sundays straight, I would be GLUED to the TUBE! I was quite intrigued by the Life Series on the Discovery Channel. This was a documentary, narrated by Oprah, covering the everyday lives of creatures of all kind. During those weeks, I came across some astonishing facts about Geese. Now, I see geese all the time flying around or just strolling around/crossing the street, but I never quite knew all this would be taking place while they were together. Check it out and hope this enlightens you as it did me…

Fact #1: As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an UPLIFT for the birds that follow. By flying in a V formation, the whole flock has 71% GREATER FLYING RANGE THAN IF EACH BIRD FLEW ALONE.

Lesson: HOW BRILLIANT IS THIS?!?!?!?! Geese understand the importance of ACCOUNTABILITY AND COMMUNITY. Often times, we allow pride to get in our way and want to do things alone rather than allowing our friends to spur us forward. Clearly, there is an EVIDENT difference in the outcome while flying together vs. flying alone. Who are you flying with?????

Fact #2: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.

Lesson: Yet another great lesson by geese. In order for us to get places we want to go, we need to surround ourselves with those going in the same or similar direction. Sometimes, we tend to MAJOR in MINOR THINGS/PEOPLE. This doesn’t help us, but it diverts us from the route we should be going in the first place.

Fact #3: When the lead bird tires, it rotates back into the formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.

Lesson: I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this fact! How often do we hear about people being either DEPENDANT OR INDEPENDANT? This shows our INTERDEPENDANCY UPON ONE ANOTHER! We rarely or NEVER hear about INTERDEPENDANCY.

Fact #4: The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

Lesson: I immediately thought about the use of car horns when I read the word “honk”. Think about it. When we honk our horns in our cars, it’s never to encourage! LOL, we honk at people because they’re a) driving too slow, b) in our way, or c) not paying attention when there’s a green light and they’re sitting there waiting for the other kind of green! 90% of people want to work around people who have positive attitudes. Imagine what types of conversations are taking place in those kind of work environments. So, the next time you see a flock of geese and you claim they’re “making all that noise”, they’re actually ENCOURAGING AND PRAISING ONE ANOTHER.

Fact #5: When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation to catch up with the flock.

Lesson: How many of us have that friend that no matter how you’re doing, they are ALWAYS there? These are the people who’ll, at the drop of a dime, stop what they’re doing to make sure you are okay. Those are some good people to have in your corner. Two words come to my mind when reading this fact; LOYALTY and SELFLESSNESS.

Oh what we can learn from geese…