The following was sent by a reader.  The source is unknown.   It gives an interesting approach to  youth as a state of mind.

Youth is not a time of life.  It is a state of mind.  It is not a matter of ripe cheeks, red lips and supple knees. – It’s a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is a freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over love of ease.  This often exists in a man of fifty more than a boy of twenty.

Nobody grows old merely living a number of years.  People grow old only by deserting their ideals.  Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.  Worry, doubts, self-distrust, fear and despair – these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust.

Whether seventy or sixteen, there is in every being’s heart the love of wonder, the sweet amazement of the stars and star-like things and thoughts, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing child-like appetite for what next and the joy and game of life.

You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair.

In the central place of your heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage, grandeur and power from the earth, from men and from the Infinite, so long you are young.

When the wires are all down and all the central place of your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then you are grown old indeed and may God have mercy on your soul.                                                                                                                             Anonymous

Bonnie Across-generations grow old, self-confidence, state of mind, youth

AgeEsteem touches people of ALL ages.

When a friend’s son was about to turn 16, he went through a terrible stage of insecurity.  He was convinced that no one liked him.  He didn’t feel a part of his peer group.  He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do or that he was even good at anything.

My reaction was to purchase a variety of cards and rummage through drawers at home to find more.  The end result was a real mix of styles and messages.  I then gave a stamped envelope and card to multiple friends and colleagues asking them to simply address the card in their own handwriting and to sign it with just their first name, or one that they thought would be fun to find on a card.  The outcome was a flood of 15 birthday cards.

A few weeks later I bumped into his mother and asked how her son’s birthday had turned out.  She explained it had gone very well.   Her son had received lots of cards, some from people he thought he knew; others he was less sure about.  He figured one of the girls at school whom he likes must have spread the word about his birthday.  His mother said that it had cut through his depressive mood to know friends cared.  He was feeling better about himself.

Did I ever let on that I was responsible?  Absolutely not!  This is one time when the mystery had to be lasting.

There are times when it is effective to remain anonymous, but not always.  It is for you to decide.

AgeEsteem is loving yourself at the age you are today so you can share love with others, either anonymously or openly.

Bonnie Across-generations, Life Stages - Ages 16, AgeEsteem, all ages, birthday cards, love, secret admirer

My wish for you at every age is to

• Live each day fully.
• Stretch your body, mind and spirit.
• Embrace new experiences.
• Share your talents with others of all ages.
• Learn something new each day.
• Celebrate frequently.
• Seek the positive in each person and experience.
• Give thanks for the blessings of your life.
• Meet new challenges with a sense of adventure.
• Greet each new day with anticipation and zest.
• Become a living model of AgeEsteem for those who meet you!

Bonnie Across-generations, Holidays adventure, AgeEsteem, celebrate, New Year, zest

Are You Web-Savvy?

About a decade ago one of the major internet suppliers had an ad showing three grey haired people looking at a computer screen in awe.  The message was that anyone can learn the internet.  It brought a smile to the people who viewed it.  Who would expect older people to use the internet?  After all, it was modern technology!

According to an article on eMarketer last month, data from the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) shows that seniors were more likely than any other age group to conduct e-commerce activities today.  

Children born today are familiar with computers in the same way that their parents were familiar with the television controls.

An important key to AgeEsteem is to keep up with modern technology and to continue to learn something new daily.  The internet offers an opportunity for both of these.

Not yet Web-Savvy?  Why not consider these ideas to strengthen your AgeEsteem and your ability with the web.

1. Investigate classes at the community center or local library.  It can be fun to learn with others.
2. Solicite the help of a grandchild or a neighborhood youth to teach you the ins and outs of the internet.  It will help build their confidence (and AgeEsteem!) to do this with you and will create a new dimension to your relationship.
3. Hire a private tutor or learn the basics on your own using one of the multitude of books available.  Once you have the basics you can use on-line tutorials to learn more.

Bonnie Across-generations, In The News AgeEsteem, CTAM, e-commerce, eMarketer, technology

Abundance Is An Attitude

Each of us has potential that can be freed by looking at the abundance and goodness around us.  When we lighten our lives by seeing the fortune that we have we are not only happier and more confident, we also become a magnet for others.  There is a goodness in abundance which creates more goodness and more abundance.  Look around you.  The abundance is there.

AgeEsteem is acknowledging our abundance.

1.  Interview people around you who are of different generations.

• What are they most thankful for?
• Do they have a habit of giving thanks daily?  How?
• If so, when did they begin this habit?
• How do they benefit from their daily thanksgiving?

2.  Do you see a difference between the attitude of those who give thanks regularly and those who do not?
3.  Now, interview yourself using the same questions.
4.  Taking all your interviews into consideration, do you see a correlation between people giving thanks, and feeling good about themselves at the age they are today?
5.  Share your experience by leaving a comment or mailing Bonnie.Fatio@AgeEsteem.com.

Bonnie Across-generations, For the Soul abundance, AgeEsteem, attitude, goodness, potential, Thanksgiving

These pumpkins may all look alike to us, but not to a child.  She sees them as unique forms and shapes like people.  To this little girl, visiting a pumpkin patch with her grandparents, it is an outing of discovery and delight.   Picking out a special pumpkin for Halloween can take all afternoon as each one is considered with care.

Halloween, which is celebrated in several countries, offers a perfect opportunity for inter-generational fun.

• Take one or several youngsters to choose pumpkins.
• Organize a pumpkin carving party in the yard or garage with neighbors of all ages to make jack-o-lanterns.
• Give a colored ribbon as a prize for the funniest, prettiest, ugliest…  Make up as many categories as possible so each person wins a ribbon.
• Make pumpkin pie and cookies together.
• Ask each person to put their jack-o-lantern in a front window of their home with a candle in it so others in the neighborhood can admire them.

AgeEsteem includes fun with all ages.

Bonnie Across-generations AgeEsteem, Halloween, jack-o-lantern, pumpkins

Whether you are a grandparent,  parent or grandchild this is a day to celebrate.  Grandparents are precious to their families and play a key role in our society.

• In the USA 5.7 million older persons are raising their grandchildren or heading a household that includes children.
• Grandparents care for 28% of preschoolers whose mothers are employed in the USA.
• 80% of US grandparents saw or spoke with their grandchildren by phone in the past month.
• Spending time with a grandparent is linked with better social skills and fewer behavior problems among adolescents. (US Concensus Bureau)
• In countries where AIDS is rampant, grandparents are often the sole living relatives to care for their grandchildren.  The generation of their own children has been wiped out by the disease.
• Even grandparents who may not have access to their grandchildren often remain AgeEsteem role models and mentors for both parents and grandchildren.

Bonnie Across-generations, Life Stages - Ages adolescents, AIDS, grandchildren, grandparents, social skills

UP ****  ( A superb movie for all ages.)

It never fails – Pixar studios (now distributing through Disney) keep coming up with stellar works in animation, transcending the genre by making it intelligent art (Toy Story, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille) that is both emotionally satisfying and super fun at the same time. This one, which is the story of an old man who flies away with his house to fulfill a life-long dream, melds two generations through nostalgia and effervescent adventure. The touching old fellow keeps remembering his departed wife, while the little boy scout who comes on board his flying home adds terrific enthusiasm to the whole shebang – a delight for kids from 5 to 95.

Neptune Ingwersen, European movie critic

Bonnie Across-generations cinema, Disney, Pixar studios, UP

Every day is a holiday somewhere in our world!

According to EarthCalendar.net the following holidays are being observed today:

Queen’s Name Day, Sweden
Father’s Day, Taiwan
Independence Day, Bhutan
International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, Australia
Peace Day (End of the Iran/Iraq war), Iraq
Peasants’ Day , Tanzania
Universal and International Affinity Day, International
Saint Mary MacKillop Day, Australia

No matter where you are on the globe, these holidays offer an occasion to begin an AgeEsteem inter-generational tradition.

• Choose a holiday for the coming month from a country other than your own.
• Research to discover as much as possible about how that particular holiday is celebrated.
• Find someone from that country to help you if possible.
• With children and friends reproduce that celebration: make costumes and props, cook food associated with that holiday…
• Invite friends of all ages to celebrate the holiday with you.

Bonnie Across-generations AgeEsteem, celebration, holidays, inter-generational, tradition