We reflect the age of those around us.

Do you find yourself acting and feeling differently as you relate to people of different ages?  I mean actually acting and feeling like you personally are living those ages?

When we are with little children it is almost natural to talk baby talk and to play.  Our age doesn’t change but our comportment does.

During the years that I worked at a university, I identified strongly with the students.  Interacting with young adults on a daily basis kept me up-to-date on the vocabulary, fads and interests of that age group.  Even though I was the teacher, I mirrored this age group constantly and internally felt like one of them in many instances.

This is also a good argument for having people of all generations in our lives.  Diversity brings a richness of opinions, approaches, and experiences.  Find ways to meet and interact with people of all ages.  It provides a great way to live and relive various stages of life.

Bonnie Life Stages - Ages all generations, comportment, interacting, university

Films From Other Countries

Watching films from other countries in their original language can be a great mind exercise.   It also opens delightful new doors to other cultures.

This French film is rated as very good by our critic, Neptune Ingwersen.

PARTIR ***1/2   (vo French)

How does one justify or explain a driven love that annihilates everything in its path?

It’s a drama that has been repeated through the ages and has yet to be comprehended after such luminaries as Sophocles or Shakespeare have probed and tried to digest its force. Here we have a film by Catherine Corsini set in the south of France, about a comfortable bourgeois couple with two adolescents. And then the wife, played by the always excellent Kristin Scott Thomas, falls madly in love with the hired handyman (the gentle Catalan actor, Sergi Lopez). The rest of this powerful story is for you to discover…

Bonnie Au Cinema, Entertainment & Fun Blind Loves, Catherine Corsini, films, Kristen Scott Thoma, Partir, Sergi Lopez

AgeEsteemer Profile
Gladys Foster
Age 87, Centennial, Colorado, USA

Follow Your Bliss

“I’m a poor, old, half-blind widow,” Gladys Foster says matter-of-factly. “That’s true.”

Well, yes and no. Chronologically and compared to the population at large, 87 years of age is old. Gladys is legally blind in one eye from macular degeneration and has only half her sight in the other eye. She has been a widow for more than 20 years. But Gladys certainly isn’t poor in spirit! Dressed in bright red, her energy is tangible.

“And I’m loving it!” she adds about her self-definition with a sparkle in her eye. “I’m so excited about life – more now than ever!”

Gladys’s life revolves around her blog and the friendships it has created, her professional associations, her extended family and her retirement community.  

“I have no pets, no kids (to take care of), no job. Yet I’m too busy!”  she adds.

Active Blogger

And busy she is. She’s an active blogger. “The Internet is the greatest thing that has happened!” she asserts, likening it to the discovery of fire and the wheel. She started her blog (gladysfoster.blogspot.com) before the 2006 U.S. elections to talk with people about what is meaningful to her. The computer is her link to friends and the world community – and that fills her with joy. “I can write the blog indefinitely because I can type without looking,” she points out, referring to her limited eyesight.

Professional Political Economist

The subject of her blog is political economics, an area of study and involvement that has fascinated her all her adult life. After Gladys earned a Masters in Economics, she married J. Fagg Foster, who was also an economist. While he taught at the University of Denver, she raised their three children. Then in 1985, she earned a Ph.D. in Economics.

“The Ph.D. gave me the credentials to publish in academic journals and to teach,” she explains. Widowed and 63 years old, she began teaching economics as an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado – Denver. She also began to participate actively in two professional organizations for economists, the Association for Institutional Thought (AFIT) and the Association for Evolutionary Economics (AFEE).

“I love going to their annual meetings. I can say anything I want,” she beams. “I come back high!”

Sister and Mother

Gladys’s family and local community are also key elements of her life. Every year, she and her four surviving siblings, ages 79 to 87, have a family reunion in their home town of Elk View, South Dakota. She also travels to see her daughter, two sons and grandchildren and hosts visits from them.

At home, her days are joyfully full. Besides writing her blog, she exercises, walks up to 40 minutes most days, does all her own cooking and cleaning, and takes a weekly tai chi class. She also belongs to the retirement village’s Vision Group, formed for people with impaired vision to share ideas and provide information about new devices.

Avid Learner

She’s a voracious reader (using a magnifying glass) and audio-book listener. When the library bookmobile comes to her retirement community every two weeks, she stocks up on books and tapes. They range from novels to tomes on neurobiology. She emphasizes, “I want to spend the rest of my life learning!”

Gladys obviously loves to toss humor and camaraderie into her life. Twice a month, she joins other members of the Wicked Widows for happy hour at one of their retirement village homes. Each member has a white canvas bag to tote her goodies. “When others see us walking down the street with our little bags, they sing, ‘We know where you’re going!’” she relates. “We talk and laugh about absolutely nothing.”

What’s the secret to this AgeEsteemer’s vibrant and joyful life? Gladys sums it up this way ― “Follow your bliss.”

Note: Gladys is the inspiration for “Gladys” p. 20 in the chapter From Doubts to Daring of the book, AgeEsteem: Growing a Positive Attitude Toward Aging by Bonnie Lou Fatio.

Bonnie AgeEsteemers AgeEsteemer, blog, Centennial, Elk View, Gladys Foster, political economist, Wicked Widows

The Age I Allow Myself To Be

Are you holding yourself back from activities you would enjoy because you think you are too old?

Who cares what others think?  Right, you do.  You care what they think.  I can understand this, so why not try the following.

• Think about something you would love to do but hold yourself back because you are afraid of what others might think.  An example might be to enter a dance contest.  Write down what you would like to do.
• Now think of the worst that could happen, the very worst.  Would you be locked up in prison?  Not likely.  Would you break a leg?  Possibly, but it isn’t probable.  Would people laugh?  Perhaps.  Maybe nothing negative would happen.
• Now ask, what is the best that could happen?  The answer may seem simple and non consequential  An example may be that you will have a good belly laugh or you will prove you can do it.

Look at these experiences like the first domino that sets off the reaction that sparks everything else that happens after the first move.

These baby steps in breaking down your self-imposed barriers will lead to further confidence.  Just as a baby learns to walk one step at a time, you will soon find yourself feeling at ease as you repeat your experience and allow yourself to grow into more new experiences,

Bonnie Life Stages - Ages confidence, new experiences, too old

Jason Sheftell who writes for the New York Daily News interviewed me for the article posted yesterday concerning AgeEsteem and real estate.

Why do I choose to highlight Janson and share this photo?

I love this photo for several reasons.

• It reminds me of an amazingly energizing interview.  Jason is a master at listening and tuning into exactly what you are saying, really saying.
• Jason immediately captured the essence of AgeEsteem.
• I learned through this experience.  As is often the case, the questions challenged me to think about AgeEsteem in new ways.

Bonnie AgeEsteemers

I am the age I feel myself to be

This could also be worded: I am the age I allow myself to be.

Do I place barriers around me?  Do I forbid myself to live my life fully?  Am I controlling my life too closely?

People sometimes say, “You’re so lucky to be able to be silly.  I could never let myself do that at my age.  What would people think?”

My reaction is, “Hey, wait a minute.  Listen to what you’re saying.  You’re admiring something I do.  Yes, you are reacting positively saying you would like to do it too.  So why wouldn’t others react just as positively towards you if you allowed yourself to have fun, even be silly?  They might admire you for it!.”

What age do you feel yourself to be?

Bonnie Life Stages - Ages admire, barriers, controlling, fun

Does it matter what age you are when you buy your first home? Bonnie tells all in the New York Daily News.

Bonnie Lou Fatio says age doesn’t matter when buying your first house. Her new book, Age Esteem, urges people of upper and lower ages to do what feels right. With baby boomers moving into their twilight years and the housing market in a bit of rut, whether people will rent or own as they age has become a crucial factor in what will get built. Fatio thinks a recent increase in first-time homebuyers in their 60s may have to do with people more concerned with making the dream of owning a home come true rather than their time in life. “Age should have absolutely nothing to do with the decision to own a home,” says Fatio. “If a 21-year-old wants to buy a house, they should make things in their life happen to reach that goal. I want this book to help people overcome the fear of doing anything that is not considered ‘age-appropriate.’ I hate that term.” To purchase the book or learn more, go to www.ageesteem.com

Alexandra Announcements

We Are The Age

WE ARE THE AGE…

• We are the age we feel ourselves to be.

• We reflect the age of those around us.

• Age doesn’t exist.  We have no age.

• We are the age of our soul.

All of the above reflect AgeEsteem, because how we see age is internal.  It is a state of mind.

How I relate to age and how I feel about my age works from the inside out.

We are the age we feel ourselves to be

Bonnie Life Stages - Ages age, AgeEsteem, soul, state of mind

Nourishing Factors

What do you feed your body?  Do you nourish it, starve it, or overload it?

A balanced diet is essential to our age-esteem and self image.  An important aspect of how we feel about ourself, whether we lack energy and feel old or are alert and dynamic is the food we eat.

At a recent luncheon I attended  Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, emphasized the importance of eating healthfully to an audience of fairly affluent diners.  A trend that is influencing health in the 21st century is the globalization of unhealthy lifestyles.

We are dealing with excesses and deficiencies.   It isn’t because we have a full plate that it is not lacking in the nutrients that we need.  Add to this the men and women who starve themselves to be size 0 and who are depriving their bodies of necessary aliments.  Then on the other side we have the overweight and obese who are also missing the right nutrients even though they eat plenty.

When in doubt, add fruits, vegetables, lean meats and fish.  They are good for your health and nourish your age-esteem.

Bonnie Uncategorized age-esteem, deficiencies, Dr. Margaret Chan, excesses, nutrients, World Health Organization

Babies and AgeEsteem

Celebrate Each Success

Celebrate each success: When Baby tries something new, even if she doesn’t succeed, you applaud her and celebrate.  You know that each new success builds on past efforts.  She begins to walk by trial and fall, and we cheer her each step of the way.

• Allow – and even encourage – yourself and others to test your abilities, make mistakes, and learn from them.
• Applaud errors as part of the learning process.
• Recognize and celebrate the smaller successes.  They are necessary building blocks to achieve your goals.

No, it’s never too early to model your own age-esteem for a child nor is  it ever too late to learn lessons of age-esteem from children!

Bonnie Life Stages - Ages age-esteem, building blocks, celebrate, success