Bonnie Ross-Parker, 67, Atlanta, GA (originally from Hartford, CT)

I love the idea of AgeEsteem. I think of being proud to be where you are whatever your age is and having that kind of self-confidence and that belief in yourself that doesn’t have anything to do with age or with your chronological place in the world.  It’s just how you feel about yourself.

There are concerns about aging.  I guess I would have to say that my greatest concern is that I won’t be able to get everything done that I want to do before I pass.  There is so much more travel and so many more experiences I would like to have.  I’ve been moving into the closing of my 6^th decade, and it makes me realize that time is so short and so valuable and there is so much more to do and so much to experience.  That would be my greatest concern about age.  With my own experience with age I can say that I just love where I am.  I wouldn’t trade youth for experience under any circumstances.

Bonnie’s Tips:  Feeling good about yourself is an inside job.  It has to come from living a fulfilling life, and I am there.  I express gratitude every day.  I feel blessed every day.  I feel fulfilled in the work that I do.  I meditate.  I work out.  I do what I can to feel good about myself.  It has nothing to do with my age.  It has to do with just wanting to have the most energy and the most out of every single moment of every single day.  So for me it’s not at all about age or aging.  It’s more about enriching my life day to day and making it the best it can be at any given time.

As far as advice is concerned, I would just say to live each moment.  I know that sounds trite.  Everybody says live each day as it comes, but it is really getting the most out of the life you have, getting the most out of the experiences, making the most out of relationships, touching people’s lives, making a difference in somebody else’s life.  I think you look within to be fulfilled and not look for happiness from the outside with the new car, the new house, the new whatever.   Instead, just know that you are contributing and making a difference in the world.  If you don’t feel that you are, then find a way to do that through volunteering, through a warm shoulder, through a compassionate ear, whatever you can do.  It is the relationships that are fostered along the way that is most important.

It is interesting that the word journey has the word our in it.  I think the journey is really a collective energy.

Bonnie Ross-Parker is a professional speaker and author and creator if the national organization, The Joy of Connecting.

We all know about calcium, how good and necessary it is for strong bones and teeth.  We all probably know as well in what foods high quantities of calcium are found such as milk, cheese and yogurt among others.

Latest studies show that calcium is also helpful in maintaining the arteries and a healthy heart.  It is the only natural nutrient which plays this double role. In fact, it is known to lower blood pressure.  This wonder mineral also aids in weight loss, eliminating bad fat.

However, most recent research in various countries and through many tests show that in  order for calcium to be assimilated in the body and deposited where it should be, in the bones and the blood, and perform its miracles, vitamin K2 is needed.  Where is vitamin K2 found?

For many years the Japanese have known the benefits of menaquinones which is found in vitamin K2. The highest amount is in a food called natto (fermented soja) which they eat in abundance.  In other parts of the world where this food is not consumed one can get vitamin K2 in the following foods: dark green vegetables, meat, eggs and high fat dairy products.

A balanced diet, by eating a variety of food, will supply enough vitamin K2 so that one will feel healthy and strong because of the assimilation of calcium in the body.

Grandma Nature

Patricia Lake, 65, PA, USA

When I hear the term Age Esteem I think,  ”I just age”.  It is just a word.  I don’t feel myself as old. I may be 65, but a lot of days I feel like I’m 40.   I feel that I have the esteem to go with my age.  Then there are the days that I feel like 90!  It depends how your body feels.  But since I started at exercising at Silver Sneakers I feel a lot better.   I quit smoking, too, so that helps.

Patricia’s Tips:  I just take one day at a time.  I have to for the situation that I live with. I have to take one day at a time because I don’t know what the next day will bring.  I try to live for that day and be happy.   I don’t like to dwell on things that are bad.  I’d rather think of positive things.

Just be happy.  Life’s too short.  I try to practice that.  It doesn’t always work, but I try!

Saint Valentine

The ever Saintly Valentine

Is a special friend of mine;

He has the gifts which come with time

(the ones which are so hard to rhyme!)

Such thoughtfulness and love and care,

And generosity to spare.

He’s ageless and esteemed the way

He keeps hearts full on his own day.

I always feel so very merry

On that date in February!

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem®

Valentine collage by Bonnie Fati0

Going to the movies is good for your age esteem.

• Films entertain, inform, educate.
• Going to the movies is a social event that brings us into contact with others.
• Movies stimulate our imagination and creativity.
• Laughter, tears, and other emotions are freed.
• Watching foreign films stimulates our language skills.

WORTH YOUR WHILE***

 L’Art d’aimer *** (French)   Juxtaposed stories of love and amusing relationships in their many forms, delightfully French.

The Mill and the Cross (Bruegel – le moulin et la croix) ***   A magnificent analysis and literal coming-to-life of Pieter Bruegels’s famous painting, The Way to Calvary, intermingled with the politics of the era and the agony of Christ’s crucifixion. A master work.

The Woman in the Fifth (La Femme du Vème) *** (English, French)  Kristine Scott-Thomas and Ethan Hawke are entwined in a hypnotic, surrealistic tale of loneliness and longing in a Paris where elegance and low-life mingles.

Juan *** (German)   From Denmark comes this powerful modern-day version of Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni, starring a rugged Christopher Maltman as Juan. Mesmerizing.

Contagion ***  This disaster film about a world-wide pandemic is top-notch due to a realistic, gripping script and pacing, fine acting by an amazing cast of stars and its director, Steven Soderbergh. You won’t want to shake hands with anyone afterwards.

Happy Feet 2  ***  Even better than the original, there are adorable fuzzy kiddy penguins, snappy music, Robin Williams back as the love-crazy Latino penguin, and a lovable pair of philosophical shrimps (yes, shrimps!). For the child in all of us.

Puss in Boots ***  He’s been a bad kitty and he now has his own film! Voiced once more by Antonio Banderas, Puss is everything from lover to Zorro-like meow trying to redeem himself, between dances and swashbuckling heroics. Great fun for all kids from 5 to 95.

Monsieur Lazhar ***  This Canadian film which won the Audience Prize at Locarno is the gentle story of a refugee who becomes a fine school teacher but gets into trouble when it’s discovered he is not legal…..universal.

Carnage **1/2  Yasmina Reza’s play about two couples spilling their guts has been brought to the screen by Roman Polanski with great actors such as Jody Foster, Christoph Waltz, Kate Winslet and John C. Reilly. Unnerving and at times over-done.

Dangerous Method **1/2  Michael Fassbender portrays Carl Jung; Keira Knightly is his famous patient and lover, Sabina Spielrein, who went on to become a psychiatrist herself; and Freud (a too handsome Viggo Mortensen) is a consultant to Jung’s therapy and his intimate affair. Fascinating, but the Freud part does not feel convincing.

J. Edgar  **1/2  As always, Leonardo DeCaprio is brilliant, here as the FBI’s infamous Hoover, becoming him from the inside-out, as the physical resemblance is disputable. As is the badly-done makeup work. Clint Eastwood knows how to make artsy crowd-pleasers, but treats Hoover with kid gloves and leaves us hungry for more info than he’s willing to convey.

La Délicatesse **1/2  (French)   A sweet, gentle film about a great love lost and how the lonely girl (Audrey Tautou) can fall for a seemingly mediocre guy because of his goodness and simplicity. Endearing.

La Vérité si je mens 3  **1/2  (French)  This is the third in the amusing, wonderfully clichéd and politically-incorrect adventures of a close-knit band of young Jewish business guys (dealing mainly in the garment trade), one more wild and woolly than the next, always rooting for their families, trying to top each other and get the best of their adversaries. With colorful French character actors such as Richard Anconina, José Garcia, Gilbert Melki and Vincent Elbaz, you can’t lose. This is comedy from the heart, without vulgarity.

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  Movies not to be missed ****

Hugo (Cabret) ****  This is a wondrous, luminous love letter to the origins and magic of filmmaking by the master himself, Martin Scorsese, via the adventures of an orphan boy living atop a bustling Parisian railroad station in the 1930s. There is cinematic history (remember George Méliès?), pathos, excitement, romance and 3D used to its fullest glory. It’s the essence of film itself, with the great Ben Kingsley.

The Guard ***1/2  Character actor Brendan Gleeson is simply amazing as a no-nonsense law officer in this quirky, tongue-in-cheek, brutally funny Irish thriller set in a small town where little happens, except this time, with a slew of loony characters. Director John Michael McDonagh starts it off sleepy but builds it up to gale force!

The Whistleblower  ***1/2  There are films that are important and this is one of them. This real-life story about the revelation of blatant sex-trafficking within the UN/private contractors organizations in Sarajevo will leave you moved and shocked, wanting to do something to put a stop to such injustice and brutality. But as the film shows, it’s easier said than done. Rachel Weisz is excellent as the concerned policewoman.

Intouchables  ***1/2 (vo French)  The true, unconventional story of an aristocratic quadriplegic and his completely-opposite caretaker has been transformed into a humorous and very human film which has broken all box-office records in France. François Cluzet and Omar Sy play perfectly off each other in this offbeat buddy film.

The Lady  ***1/2  Luc Besson is a passionate scriptwriter and filmmaker (Le Grand Bleu, Subway, Leon, La Femme Nikita, The Fifth Element) who has put his heart and soul into this biopic about the Burmese Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi. There is Burma’s recent political history intermingled with Suu Kyi’s private life and her heart-breaking sacrifices involving her British husband and two sons versus her struggle for freedom and justice in her home country. Beautifully portrayed by Michelle Leoh, she is the female version of such giants as Ghandi and Mandela.

Margin Call  ***1/2   A Lehman Brothers-like melt-down is the premise of this tightly-wound, twenty-four hour study of mega-money manipulations among the rulers of stock markets. J.C. Chandor’s astonishingly-polished (and multi-awarded) first feature stars Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci and Demi Moore, showing it as it is and always will be – the powerful managing to save their own hide….most of the time…

The Descendents ***1/2  Director Alexander Payne is a master of in-depth films about people’s experiences and transformations in key moments of their lives as in About Schmidt or  Sideways. Here he takes us to the glorious sea and landscapes of Hawaii and a wealthy local family whose patriarch is facing a terrible accident of a loved one and his unruly daughters, while having to decide on a huge land deal on one of the islands. A slow start develops into a gripping drama of many layers and colors, with an excellent George Clooney and fine supporting cast. Oscars?

Et si on vivait tous ensemble?  ***1/2 (vo French)  If you want to laugh, cry and be utterly amused by the trials and tribulations of a group of aging, long-time friends, run to this film starring everyone: Claude Rich, Jane Fonda, Guy Bedos, Pierre Richard, Geraldine Chaplin and the young German star, Daniel Brühl (from Goodbye Lenin), who is writing his thesis on their plan to grow old together….. A pure delight!

Jane Eyre ***1/2   In the great BBC tradition of fine drama, here is the latest version of Charlotte Bronté’s classic about a mysterious and troubled aristocrat and the young governess with whom he falls in love. Starring Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and the multi-talented Irish/German Michael Fassbender, who seems to be everywhere these days, it is brilliantly acted and filmed like a work of art by Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre): a love story and melodrama captured in time.

50/50  ***1/2   Joseph Gordon-Levitt (rightly nominated for a Golden Globe) plays in the real-life story of a young man who finds out he has massive cancer of the spine and how he deals with the possibility of a 50/50 chance at life when you’re only in your twenties. The beauty of this film is the tenderness and humor that makes it not so much about the cancer but the relationships that become magnified when such tragedy strikes, whether they concern him, his buddy, mother or girlfriend. Quite unforgettable.

Mission Impossible 4 – Ghost Protocol  ***  Directed by Brad Bird, this is the best Mission Impossible to date. Tom Cruise and his astounding stunts are first rate, the script is tight and intelligent and the action is non-stop fun, from Russia to India and Dubai. This is grandiose popcorn entertainment with quality!

Reconciliation – Mandela’s Miracle ***  This fine documentary traces the oft-told story of Mandela’s decades-long imprisonment, his release and his honorable and peaceful rise to the presidency of South Africa. And above all, his amazing grace and forgiveness of his tormentors, which is the miracle of the title.

Le Havre *** (vo French)  Aki Kaurismäki has always had his own quirky style – 1950s formica decor in pastel-colored sets, frozen acting with lingering looks, and naive, simplistic stories. In this latest tale set in the port city of Le Havre, about a little black refugee and an aging shoe shine man who takes him in to protect him from the law, he has humanized his characters and given them depth and humor. A sweet, singular experience.

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When you see a banana do you think of a monkey?  It so happens that bananas are the most purchased fruit in supermarkets.  So, there is at least one similarity between man and monkeys!

Bananas are good for you.  They are full of potassium and magnesium.  Both are important as we age.  Potassium is very important in controlling blood pressure and stimulates enzymes and regulates metabolism.  Magnesium keeps the nerves solid and is efficient in preventing leg cramps. A combination of sugar and amino acids found in bananas enables the brain to synthesize serotonin, “the happiness hormone”.

Bananas are very low in calories and very inexpensive.  They can, of course, be eaten on their own but are delicious in baked goods and as an accompaniment to cereals as well.

Nurture your body by eating bananas. – One could even say that a banana a day keeps the doctor away.

Grandma Nature

Anne-Louise Sterry, 60, Oregon, USA

The first thing that pops into my head when I hear “Age Esteem” is, oh my gosh, instead of thinking that old people are useless we’re going to look at people who are older with a sense of esteem.

What concerns do I have about growing older?  Actually concerns about aging just popped up for me when I turned 60.  One is a sense of anxiety that I don’t really have so much of my life left, and if I haven’t done what I wanted to do when I am I going to do it?  I better get to work!

A second concern is that I’ll never be able to retire.  I ought to be able to, except for the fact that I love what I do so I wouldn’t want to stop.  – But then when is the time that you can relax?  My father used to say, “You can relax when you’re dead.”  So that is a concern.  And of course there is the sagging of the body bits.  I’m not so happy about that.

Anne-Louise’s Tips:  I wake up in the morning and I try, especially if I am at home, to spend some time writing.  One of the things that I write at the top of my page is the type of day I want to create.  I often write that I am creating a day of joy and focus, or I’m creating a day of joy and love, or I’m creating a day of patience.   That actually carries me through my day.

Laughter is a really good thing.  Laughter makes you feel good.

Exercise.  You’ve got to get outside and walk.  You have to do something to get in the fresh air, something to move your body.  My husband and I ride bikes. I try to walk, especially since I turned 60.  I’m a new 60 and I’m struggling with that a bit.  It just seems old though I don’t feel old.  It is just the number.  I would like to change the number to have more years left.  I work on staying present and not future tripping or past tripping.  Both are useless.

When my parents were 60 they were old.  They weren’t out; they weren’t walking; they weren’t running; they weren’t doing things with their bodies.  So I guess I still see that as what 60 is supposed to be like.

When my Grandma was 60, she was a little old lady.  I think it is just an idea; it is just a concept that we need to change.  We need to change the concept of what 60 means.  Then I have a husband who is 65.  How did he ever become 65?

I’m a young old person so I don’t have very many tips yet.

 Anne-Louise Sterry, aka aunt Lena, speaker, author, performing artist www.Anne-Louise.com 

P.S. This interview wouldn’t be complete without a photo of Anne-Louise as aunt Lena, who is full of age esteem!