Have you ever heard the expression “old man strength?”
If not, it’s just the ability of older men to lift heavy objects like large amounts of lumber or heavy furniture, and beat their sons in arm wrestling. Apparently, there’s just a weird amount of strength in older men.
It sounds funny, but it’s absolutely true. The idea is based on the premise that the longer you train, the stronger you’ll get. ‘Training’ in this case can mean the physical grinds of life, compounded by years.
In pursuing lives of virtue, we should strive for a similar kind of “old man strength.”
No matter what our age is, each new day, we should focus on responding with virtue more often and more quickly.
That’s certainly easier said than done, so where do we begin?
One place to start is developing the habit of reviewing your day before falling asleep. What happened today? Who did we encounter? When did we respond with virtue? When should we have responded differently?
We should assess our weaknesses today, so we can be stronger tomorrow.