OLD MAN STRENGTH…What it is and how to use it

My eldest son lives in Overland Park, Kansas. I visit him several times a year, and most years I’ll spend some of the Christmas/New Years Holiday season at his home. While I’m in the KC area, I also get invited to gatherings at his in-laws. His wonderful wife is from a large Kansas City family so their get-togethers are pretty good size.

At a family gathering during the last Holiday Season, an arm-wrestling contest broke out. Lot’s of young studs and their dads and uncles competing. Get the picture?

So eventually, as a gracious gesture they asked me to compete. I guess, they didn’t want the old guy to feel left out. Now please keep in mind that I was 74 at the time. However, in no time at all, to their amazement, I beat every guy there at arm wrestling.

That’s when I heard a phrase muttered that was totally new to me —“Old Man Strength”. Not only was this phrase new to me, but to my surprise it was being used as an excuse. As if to imply that it was an unfair competition.

The next day, I made it a point to look up this phrase. I didn’t know at the time whether they had made it up or if it was a thing. It’s hard to keep up with the latest cultural lingo. Maybe you’ve had similar experiences.

Here’s what I found on Google: What is Old Man Strength? Old man strength is “the uncanny ability of older men to lift copious amounts of lumber, heavy furniture and beat their sons in arm wrestling.”

It’s good to know I have this “superpower”, although I guess I’ve known it for years, but was too humble to bring it up (haha) — plus I didn’t want to get invited to any more home moves or furniture deliveries.

Another kind of “superpower” that <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>some</span> older men possess is what Arthur Brooks talks about in his book, Strength to Strength. He calls it crystallized intelligence.

Brooks suggests there are two types of intelligence that people possess, but at greater abundance at different points in life.

The first is fluid intelligence, which is defined as the ability to reason, think flexibly, and solve novel problems.

There is also crystallized intelligence. This is defined as the ability to use a stock of knowledge learned in the past.

Brooks says, “When you are young, you have raw smarts; when you are old, you have wisdom. When you are young, you can generate lots of facts; when you are old, you know what they mean and how to use them.”

It seems to me that in our FATC fellowship we are blessed with plenty of both fluid intelligence, as well as crystallized intelligence. Moreover, we have ample opportunity for guys to contribute from whichever is their current strength.

Better yet, FATC is a great place to transition from one to the other. For some that may look like contributing less innovation than they once did — but maybe more instruction, teaching and training.

Years ago, when I embraced this reality, I saw it as an opportunity and an adventure — both in FATC, as well as throughout my life. My life is richer now as a mentor, discipler, teacher, guide, writer, dad and grandfather. And I don’t miss the pressure of managing hundreds of people and millions of dollars in advertising.

Toby Keith’s song, Don’t Let the Old Man In resonates with me. In fact, that feeling explains, in part, why I decided, as a 75-year-old guy, to go on a 14-day dangerous game safari in Zimbabwe this past July with one of my sons. However, now I realize there are actually two types of “old men”.

There’s the “old man” that counts himself out because he chooses to focus on his age and the negative things our culture says about “old guys”. He chooses to focus on the fact that he’s not as quick or resilient as he once was in his physical prime. He chooses to focus on the career position he used to have, that he short-sightedly chose to build his identity around.

Then there’s the second type of “old man” who chooses to recognize and use his “superpowers” — his experiential knowledge, his crystalized intelligence, his wisdom, his more flexible schedule and his network of friends — to bless others and to make a difference in the lives of those around him. This is the “old man” who successfully transitions into a life of significance, and with God’s help, leaves a legacy that (to borrow a line from the movie Gladiator) — echoes throughout eternity.

No matter your current age, which “old man” do you choose to become?