Human beings have never been as connected as they are right now, with technology, social media, and the rising number of people in our cities. Yet we have never been more alone. The number of Americans who live alone has grown over the last 100 years, increasing from roughly 5 percent in 1920 then to around 27 percent in 2013. Around 12% of men live alone, a dramatic increase from around 6% in 1970. In this day and age, being part of a community has massive mental and physical health benefits for people.
A community has four attributes; membership; influence, integration and connection. We thought we’d share the way in which our collective community, Old Man Strength, embodies these attributes; why it matters, how it works, and how you can be part of it.
Membership – The best communities don’t just let anyone in. They have boundaries, investment and a common symbol which binds the group. For OMS, our boundaries are simple. If you’re over 35 years old, you’ve seen a bit of life and know that it starts to get a little hard from now. You identify with the struggle to stay strong while the years stalk us, try to slow us down and try to get the best of us. But you aren’t going to go down easy and if you’ve been down, you’ve got up again. The OMS symbol says you are part of that community, that you identify with that struggle and that you respect the hard work. Check out our other blogs for more about this.
Influence – it is a fact that members of the OMS community have an influence over the other members of the group. What you write in your comments matters, and can lift or subdue. Just saying the word “respect” can take a person in our community forward. Trash talk or disrespect gets deleted – no excuses. Face facts, life is hard. But being old man strong can solve a lot of problems.
Integration – OMS brings a large group of strong older guys, who aren’t going to back down for anyone, together into a shared community. Its guys who lift, roll, cross-fit, and play hard either on their own or as part of a group. Our almost 60,000 members are predominantly between 36 and 56 years of age, and are spread across the United States, Australia, Belgium, South Africa, Scotland, Wales, the Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Russia. We don’t know each other but we know what it takes to stay in the game.
Connection – all of our members have a story. They have overcome, they have lived and they have prevailed. Some are still overcoming and prevailing. Each of our members, wherever they are living, has a share of a collective bond which was born out of the fire of our individual struggles.
There is nothing stopping you from joining our community, whether you buy the shirt, just read the quotes we post and stay silent, or whether you engage in comments and sending us visitor posts.
Its not about the gear, its about the movement. Join our community of strong old men at www.oldmanstrength.com.au.