I was thinking last night about how the people in our lives change through the years which got me thinking about geese. Bear with me here...I will get to the correlation at some point.
I was thinking last night about all the changes in my life in the last 10 years. Its been 10 years since my divorce was final. I think what prompted the thoughts were that last night at Bingo (a group of ladies from church get together monthly) one of my friends from 10 years ago was there. Seeing her brought back memories of a time when I had to totally rely on friends for encouragement to get me through a very tough period of my life. At the time, I was leading a weight loss class at my Church which we had dubbed the "pray your butt off" class since it was a combination of diet, exercise, Bible study and prayer...anyway, in my turmoil of a marriage coming apart and the changes that came with that, I was totally inept at leading anything. Rather than let the class completely cease, this lady volunteered to take over until I felt "stable" enough to return. I never did. And somewhere along the way, I lost touch with her. Any of you that are divorced know that no matter how hard you try to keep some normalcy in your personal life in regard to friends, suddenly being single brings about a lot of changes. You go from being part of a couple to being one. Its natural at that point to gravitate toward other single friends because they are in the same boat as you whether by choice or not. Married friends remain, but there is a subtle change in some cases. You can still hang out...but our world and theirs don't always mesh anymore. I think that was the case in this situation with a few exceptions.
Suddenly, I was in the Singles group at a different Church because the "memories" at my old Church were too painful at the time and the "pity" looks were too much to bear. My boys were teenagers by then, long past the want to hang out with mom phase. And so I gravitated toward friends that I could go do things with on a moments notice. Going back to college, I met other adults who were doing the same thing I was; finishing a degree because they had the free time suddenly to do so in many cases. Divorce Care class was another social event for me. There I could go and feel safe expressing my feelings which altered from rage to acceptance to revenge to relief. When my mom died 7 years ago, there were 4 friends that made the 3 hours drive from Muskogee to Kingfisher to be there for me on that day. I am sad to say that I haven't seen any of these friends in several years. Yet, the really amazing thing is that I could call any one of them up today on a moments notice and they would be there for me.
Ok so back to the geese, lol I was thinking about the V formation and how when one goose falls out of formation, the remaining geese reformat or another goose joins the V. Sort of like people in our lives. Sometimes they fall from the formation because their situation changes and so their friends change like when I went from having lots of married friends and few single friends to just the reverse. Sometimes they fall from formation because they are shot out of the sky by some mean hunter (just kidding though I am in the poor bambi category when it comes to the "sport" of hunting...and yes, I know that its necessary to cull the herd for survival, yadadadad I stil hate the thought of hunting... Ok sometimes they fall from the formation because they die. Like my mom and a few of my friends. But there is always someone to take their place and just as life seems to change on a daily basis so does the people in our "V". Some remain steadfast such as family. For example, Chris and Andy are always gonna be in my V. As my life evolves, new people have joined my personal V formation and some have dropped out. Sometimes that change is painful...like when you lose "in-laws" when a divorce happens. Not that you ever lose the love for those people. Some you lose due to death, like my mom. No one will ever be able to fill her spot in my V completely.
So I googled geese formation because though I knew it had something to do with being aerodynamically effecient in regard to the V shape, I was curious to know exactly why geese fly in a V. And what I found was some thoughts by an unknown author that relate the V formation to Humans and pretty much nailed what I was thinking about. So I am sharing that with you:
In the Spring, when you see geese
heading North for the Summer or South in the Fall, flying along in "V"
formation, you might be interested in knowing what scientists have
discovered about why they fly that way. It has been learned that as each bird
flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following.
By flying in "V " formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater
flying range than if each bird flew on its own.
Basic Truth #1-
People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they
are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one
another.
Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the
drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into
formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in
front.
Basic Truth #2- If we have as much sense as a goose, we
will stay in formation with those who are heading in the same direction as we
are.
When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in the wing and
another goose flies point.
Basic Truth #3- It pays to take turns
doing hard jobs, with people or with flying geese.
These geese honk from
behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
Basic
Truth #4- We need to be careful what we say when we honk from behind.
Finally, when a goose gets sick, or is wounded by gunshot, and falls
out, two geese fall out of formation and follow him down to help and protect
him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly or until he is dead, and
then they launch out on their own or with another formation until they catch up
with their group.
Final Truth- If we have the sense of a goose,
we will stand by each other, protect one another and sometimes make new friends
who seem to be going in our direction.
Author unknown
I love these. Especially, the part about 2 geese falling out of formation and staying with the sick or injured goose until they are able to fly. I had a lot more than 2 geese that rallied around me during those dark moments when my marriage fell apart. I had a whole flock, surrounding me, uplifting me, protecting me and loving me back to life.
And like the final truth, I am grateful and blessed and have the sense of a goose I'm happy to say. I have been told that I am tenaciously loyal.... I like that.. .I don't give up easily on people and I stand by the people I love. I stand by, protect and nurture those that I love with a tenacity that surprises even me sometimes. And it seems like every day, there is a new friendship to explore and add to the formation that is my personal V of life. Joe is the latest addition. What a blessing. Kinda gives me goosebumps to think how close I came to not going out with him. When I logged on to Match.com to get off the site because it had left me feeling pretty cynical about love, and he had messaged me I am so thankful that I had the wisdom to recognize that this man was different.
If you put all the people in my life that are important to me in my"V" it would stretch for miles. What a blessing! Some of my geese may have left my immediate V to go out on their own or fly with another formation. But no one that has ever crossed my path and made an imprint on my heart will ever be forgotten.
V stands for victory and I think I've won the challenge of staying faithful and optomistic even in the hard times. As Joel Osteen says, you can choose to be a victor in life, or a victim. I've chosen the former, but now without help from an amazing group of friends and family and co-workers and acquaintances that I thank God for every day.
Merry Christmas! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Honk!
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