Community: a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals
We humans are, at our core, social beings.
Our fundamental social unit is the family. While there are, of course, outliers who seek to escape civilization (and even many of them still find community on the internet), most of us live in cities, neighborhoods, congregate in churches, join groups. We socialize. We worship together, live together, eat together, learn together. We share Facebook posts. We even mourn together (it’s just harder in the Covid era).
Diverse forces continually hijack “community” for their purpose or agenda. For example, marketers leverage connection in talking about increasing “reach” and “engagement.” Algorithms are really about leveraging community.
While we call the physical places where we congregate “communities”… “community” is, more precisely, a state of mind… a “feeling of fellowship with others,” as the definition says.
So why am I focusing on community in a post about living an ageless life?
Well it’s because both community and an ageless state of mind share a fundamental trait of our humanity. The word “fellowship” in the definition above expresses the common pull most of us feel toward connecting with other humans – especially those who share our attitudes, interests, goals or needs.
Some connections are influenced by circumstances. Poor people seldom hang out with millionaires. Yet a person in poverty may share online with a wealthy socialite a common interest in cooking, and both join an active Facebook group where they enthusiastically share recipes and cooking tips.
So when I connect a sense of community to living an ageless life, I am really connecting two fundamental human drives. You and I are connected by our common humanity to seek out others whom we can relate to or who will support us in some way because we FEEL connected, or we want to feel connected.
When I talk on my blog about joining our ageless community, I’m looking toward building a community of individuals anywhere in the world who feel, like I do, that I will never let age define me. I refuse to be confined by age, by a number, even by any growing incapacities, decline in capabilities or appearance changes.
My defiance to submit to the effects of aging is a personal decision.
I can make that choice without any social connection. It’s MY body It’s MY mind. As I said in my previous post about why ageless is NOT the same as anti aging, I can choose to use some anti aging supplement, diet, exercise or psychological program to lessen the effects of aging, but, whatever the success or lack of success with these tools, I can still live an ageless life.
“Ageless” is an attitude.
It is a defiant state of mind that drives me to squeeze every ounce of living out my few short years on the planet. Yes, I can accomplish this as a solitary individual. BUT… how much more enjoyable, more effective, more fulfilling, more profound that effort can be if I share the journey with others... if I feel like this is a place where I belong... a tribe that "gets" me and listens to me and supports me.
I share this state of mind with my extraordinary wife of 56 years who, at 78, looks, acts and thinks 20 years younger. She’s my ageless hero. But I decided last year to seek out and share this profound dedication to agelessness with others who feel a similar kinship… who value support and engagement on their own personal journey – hence the genesis of EverAgeless.com
That’s the power of community.
Community strengthens, enriches and challenges my personal commitment to ageless living. It helps me keep growing, helps me resist distractions and keeps me aspiring higher, despite advancing age.
You can go it alone on your own personal quest. You may be a total introvert like me. But, trust me, the more you reach out, engage, share, form bonds… the more you CONNECT… the more successful and fulfilling your journey will be.
Continue to use anti aging tools in your quest. I’m all for it. I use them, too. But keep at the core of your journey the defiance to not be confined by or defined by how you look, how you feel, what you think you’re losing or any other circumstance of life.
You are who you think you are.
Cultivate that attitude. Practice it every day, and reach out to find your community of like-minded travelers. You’ll be better for it, I assure you.
If you have not yet joined our EverAgless community, go here.