Going to the movies is a wonderful exercise for our age-esteem.   Why not take a look at our critic’s choices over the next three days and treat yourself to a theater outing or rent one to watch at home?

• Going to the movies is a social event, especially when we watch with friends and discuss the film afterward.
• Films spark our imagination.
• Movies stimulate our thinking; they take us to other parts of the world and into unusual settings.
• Watching foreign films in their original language forces us to concentrate on vocabulary.  If you study a foreign language, this will help connect words and images, phrases and scenarios.
• Many films keep us up to date and help us converse with our grandchildren.
• It’s fun to watch good movies!

Rose Muenker, 61, USA

Age Esteem is loving life and loving who I am.

Rose’s tips:  Just really sense in your own heart what it is that makes you feel good about yourself and good about your life and not be distracted by what the outside world is saying you ought to be thinking, how you should feel, how you should act, how you should think.  Authenticity, honesty.  Just really doing and saying and being what makes you feel comfortable in your own skin.

Rose Muenker is a professional writer and writing coach and workshop leader.

Sunshine Vitamin D

Are you getting enough Vitamin D?  Vitamin D is an essential ingredient for the body, especially in preventing osteoporosis.  One in two women and one in four men (Yes, fellows, this also concerns you!) over age 50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture.

Vitamin D is necessary to build strong bones and to fortify muscles. The good news is that a bit of sun each day directly on the skin can give you what you need.  It is even crucial because any vitamin D that has been consumed through foods cannot be processed without direct sunlight, thus the sunshine vitamin.

Vitamin D can only be found in a few foods such as egg yolk, fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna, sardines), liver and butter.

We know  that it is dangerous to sit in the sun for long periods of time without using sunscreen, but since sunscreen prevents the sun from penetrating into the body, vitamin D  cannot be processed . For this reason vitamin D deficiency is very prevalent today as people are aware that they should not be overexposed to sun rays. However, just a few minutes of sun per day without suntan lotion will enable the vitamin D in the body to be effective.

So to build strong bones and muscles in order to prevent fallng and broken bones, complement your healthy diet and exercise with a daily dose of sunshine vitamin D.

Grandma Nature

In the middle of all these penguins, there is one who jumps up and sings, “I gotta be me, I just gotta be me”.

It is a humorous image since all penguins seem to look and act alike.  And yet it is also an image that rings a bell in each of us.  We all want to “be me”.  We want to shine in our unique talents and to be recognized for our personal characters.  We want to count for who we are rather than as just another number.  We want to be loved for who we are.

This is true at every age.  It is especially apparent when we are older and feel packaged as part of a group of empty nesters, pre-retirees, retirees, seniors,…  We can easily feel like the penguin who is sick of just being seen as one of  the pack.  We too want to “be me”.

• Take stock of your unique talents, skills and qualities.  What are you good at?
• Define your key values, the values that you live by and are not willing to give up.
• Look at what you love to do, what motivates you.
• Think about the contributions you have made, how you have shared your talents and values.
• Celebrate the person you are!

For the last two years I have dyed Easter eggs with our granddaughter, Jessica.  Jessica is now almost three, so it was especially enjoyable dying eggs together this year.  It was so much fun that when I saw her last week she announced, “I want to color eggs today.”

As I opened my mouth to explain that we only color eggs for Easter, I abruptly closed it.  Why shouldn’t we paint eggs at other times of the year?   It is a good example of how we place limits on ourselves and nip creativity and an open mind.  Here I was about to instill a limit on the same child who I want to become confident, setting her sights high knowing that she can do anything she sets her mind to.

It shook me up.  Am I also influencing her age-esteem?

Our AgeEsteem is greatly influenced by limiting thoughts.  Examples abound with messages bombarding us showing us that youth is associated with opportunities  and age with obstacles.  Youth is freedom, age is a burden.  These limiting concepts are cemented into our minds. -  Even though we know these messages are not true.   Who says we shouldn’t travel alone, drive a race car, climb mountains, start a new business…?

Break down your personal limiting barriers.

• Listen to yourself when you speak out loud and to your thoughts.
• Filter your messages.  Are they limiting what you think can be done?
• Ask yourself why you think this way.  Has someone fed you this message often so you now believe it?
• Make a list of these limiting beliefs.
• Act on them.  Just do what you have previously limited yourself to believe you could or should not do.

My granddaughter and I will color eggs again next week.  Sometimes changing a limiting belief  is as simple as that!

There is a new breed of millionaires – and there will soon be a lot more of these millionaires.  Will you become one of them?

These are not cash-rich people.  They are time rich, those who live a million hours.  This means that they are living 114 or more years.

Today there are about 300,000 people who are validated to be at least 100 years old, and by mid century this number is estimated to grow to about 3.4 million.  There are 75 supercentenarians, meaning that they are 110 years old or more, living in the world today.  Their documents leave no doubt that they are indeed the age they are said to be.

The longest documented life is that of Jeanne Calment of France (1875–1997), who died at age 122 years and 164 days. Kama Chinen, born May 10, 1895 in Okinawa, Japan, is now the oldest living person in the world.

As we continue to live longer it will become even more important to age healthfully with Age Esteem

This year’s World Health Day is focused on making cities healthier.

As the World Health Organization (WHO) states, « There are solutions.  Urban planning can promote healthy behaviours and safety through investment in active transport, designing areas to promote physical activity and passing regulatory controls on tobacco and food safety. Improving urban living conditions in the areas of housing, water and sanitation will go a long way to mitigating health risks.  Building inclusive cities that are accessible and age-friendly will benefit all urban residents.

Such actions do not necessarily require additional funding, but commitment to redirect resources to priority interventions, thereby achieving greater efficiency. »

Happy Easter

May the glory of this day bring you peace, hope and joy throughout the year.

Easter offers an enjoyable opportunity for inter-generational fun.  Why not gather the grandchildren or neighbors for an egg painting party?  Even a two year old can dye and color eggs.  All ages can participate – toddlers, teens, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents.   You may begin an annual tradition!

• Make baskets to offer to friends.  The baskets that berries and fruit or potatoes come in can be decorated with ribbon and grass and filled with eggs.
• Decorate a branch or small tree with eggs.
• Organize an Easter egg hunt in a yard or the neighborhood park.
• Run races where each person must run with an egg in a spoon.
• Have an egg roll, where you are on all fours and push the egg with your nose.

Most important is to enjoy!  This is a wonderful way to share your age-esteem.

Age Esteem is a basic essential for succeeding in social, economic and religious issues.  We must first feel good about ourselves at the age we are today, every day, if we are to be effective in our relationships with other women, girls, men and boys of all ages.  To be able to contribute our best and to nourish others and help them grow, we must first feel confident about ourselves.

This was reconfirmed by multiple speakers during the Commission on the Status of Women which I attended at the United Nations in New York last month.  The Honorable Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was one of these speakers.  Mrs Robinson insisted on our right to dignity and equality, sharing the opening sentence of the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that states:

« Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, »

She emphasized that it is important to combine dignity with human rights.

Dignity

• Represents our inner sense of worth.
• Is relative to the cultural, environmental, social and spiritual.
• Depends on relations with others.
• Is holistic, encompassing all other aspects of life.

To have AgeEsteem is to age with dignity.