I have decided to dedicate a post on Thursday to therapy, and offer you the many tips I have learned on the couch. They will be a good reminder for me, as well, of something small I can concentrate on. Many of them are published in my book, “The Pocket Therapist: An Emotional Survival Kit.”
We can learn a lot from geese … aside from techniques on how to crap on the right people.
Did you know that by flying in a “V” formation, these creatures not only move faster but can also fly for longer amounts of time and much more efficiently than if they go it alone? In fact, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird decides to do a solo act. Because each goose in formation provides lifting power for the one behind it.
And when a goose gets sick or is wounded, does the geese group desert the poor guy? Nope. Two of his geese buddies fall out of formation to be with him until he is healthy enough to fly again or until he dies. At that point, they either try to catch up with their original group, or they find another formation.
It’s similar to the buddy system I had to abide by back in Girl Scouts. None of us were allowed to go pee in the middle of the night or dart off to the campfire without our buddy. My counselors were not pleased with me when they learned that my buddy had apparently rolled out of our tent in the middle of the night, down a wooded hill, and almost into the creek. Like I had anything to do with that.
Teaming up is useful on many levels.
For one, it makes you accountable. When you have to report to someone, you lower your percentage of cheating by 60 percent, or something like that. Especially if you’re a people-pleaser like me. You want to be good, and get a badge or checkmark or whatever the hell they’re passing out, so make sure someone is passing out such reviews.
Also, there is power in numbers, which is why the geese system is used in many different capacities today: in the workplace, to insure quality control and promote better morale; in twelve-step groups to foster support and mentorship; in exercise programs to get your butt outside on a dark, wintry morning when you’d rather enjoy coffee and sweet rolls with your walking partner.

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