Cultivating confidence is easier than you think.

Stay connected! Did you know that older adults who are engaged socially will often extend their lives and their enjoyment of life by years?  Personal relationships and regular interactions with others can make a major difference in your self-esteem and confidence.

Do something different. By exposing yourself to a new context, you’re literally growing as you learn to act in new circumstances. Joining a group that shares a common interest makes life fun. Feeling helpful and needed often encourages the release of “good” hormones that help the body to fight off illness and disease while physically making us feel better.

Get out there and be confident, share your talents and passions with others!

This time of year has a magical way of adding a bit of spring to your step, so use these warmer days to grow your garden and take action in your age-esteem.

Exercise your mind. Engage in meaningful activities. Volunteer, read books and magazines that spark your curiosity, teach a class or learn a new skill or hobby. These exercises will not only improve your thinking ability and help you feel happier, but will also protect the brain by establishing “cognitive reserve” helping the brain become more adaptable in some mental functions, compensating for age-related brain changes.

Do something to grow your mind each day! It will also grow your age-esteem.

Exercise your body. Move in whatever way you can.

Did you know that there is a positive association between increased levels of physical activity and improved health in older adults? Regular exercise provides a myriad of health benefits such as better bone and joint health, blood sugar management, improvements in blood pressure and long-term preservation of neuro-cognitive function.  

It is a good idea to mix aerobic and muscle strengthening exercises into each week.  Walking, dancing, swimming, bicycle riding, and tennis can all be considered aerobic exercise. Digging and lifting as part of gardening or carrying groceries while shopping can be considered muscle strengthening. Have a weekly exercise routine and take a conscious effort to act on it.

Exercise your body to encourage healthy growth as you age!

Perhaps the most important realization a person can make is that they have the ability to control their growth. This is true at all ages and stages of life. Some of the ideas listed below are simple while others might take a conscious effort to act on. Each idea helps us care for our body, in much the same way as we do our garden.

Nutrition, what you feed your body, is important. As you age your metabolism slows down. You need fewer calories so it is important to choose foods that give you the best nutritional value. Make it a priority to Include lean protein in your diet. Remember to choose foods that are high in fiber and low in sodium or salt.

Also, look for Vitamin D, an important mineral as we age. Consider taking vitamin supplements targeted at your age group.

Feed your body to encourage healthy growth!

At a young age we are taught (and sometimes made) to share our toys, our candy and even our crayons. Even in food-motivated herds, like zebras, you will notice that they will mow the fields together as a group. One might even gather that sharing is a good thing. But why?

As we get older and our personal space becomes larger we tend to share less and less. Our focus might change from what we are giving to what we might be losing. When you share, are you actually losing something, or gaining much more?

Sharing is defined as ”the joint use of a resource or space.” Sharing is a basic component of human interaction, and is responsible for strengthening social ties and ensuring a person’s well-being. Sharing is a vital life skill. Buy why? Sharing builds trust, and trust is highly correlated with happiness. It also increases positive social interaction with others, which can prolong your life. Sharing involves cooperation, and cooperation is essential to the success of humans.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Share your wisdom with the younger generation.
• Perform random acts of kindness.
• Share your time and volunteer your services with a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, or other charity organization.
• Carpool. Give people a ride in your car.
• Grow a garden full of flowers and pick a bouquet for a teacher or neighbor.
• Smile. Be compassionate in all human transactions.

So if you happen to be having a rough start to your day, try sharing something with another person (even if just a smile). You might be surprised at the happiness and joy you receive in return. – And, your age-esteem will blossom as well!

Spring Showers Can Boost Your Age Esteem

It’s raining !

Spring brings rain where I live in Europe. Lots of rain.

Sitting here on the bus I hear others complaining that “enough is enough”. It has rained for five consecutive days.

I love walking in the rain. As a child I used to beg my mother to let me go outside and stomp through the puddles. Sister Susie and I would take a couple pans from the kitchen, so we could concoct a witches’ brew with wet leaves, flower petals and some wiggly worms. We hated it when Mom called us inside.

Even today I love walking in the rain. Stomping in puddles with my grandchildren is still a favorite experience. Rain is refreshing and renewing. It seems to wash away worries, leaving room for new ideas and expression.

These feelings of renewal and playfulness are important to our age-esteem. They help us live the age we are with joy and pizzazz. In AgeEsteem: Growing a Positive Attitude Toward Aging, chapter 2, page 16, tells the story of breaking loose from our programed behavior and to begin Singing in the Rain to free the child within you.

When we let the child within us come out to play, we use all of our senses. It frees us to raise our faces to the sky to feel the raindrops, and even taste them. We smell the newness of nature, listen to the sound of the rain on different surfaces, watch drops seemingly bounce on the sidewalk, and laugh with pure joy as we also renew and revitalize our age-esteem.

Bonnie Fatio

Renewal brings persistence, persistence to become who you are intended to be at every age. What better example than the oak tree?

They say that the great oak tree is just a little nut that held its ground.  I love the image of the little nut, the acorn, that held its ground against all odds. It fell from the tree and eventually cracked open as a spout that began to shoot out and find its way into the earth.

Oak trees are indeed persistent. It can live 200 years or more and will only begin to produce acorns after 25 – 50 years. Even when an oak tree lives to 100 years of age and slows down, it will continue to produce over 2,000 acorns annually.

The Seven Sisters Oak is the largest certified southern live oak tree, and is located in Louisiana, USA. It is believed to be about 1,500 years old. Its trunk measures 38.9 feet (11.9 meters) in circumference; is 68 feet tall and has a branch spread of 139 feet.

The Celtic meaning for the oak tree is one of wisdom and towering strength. Ancient Celts honored the oak for its endurance and noble presence.

For me, the oak tree also symbolizes age-esteem. It holds strong in all circumstances, spreads its branches as widely as possible to offer shade and shelter with purpose.  And, no matter how rude the winter may have been, it wears a new suit of leaves every spring and new buds of acorns.

Bonnie Fatio

As the days grow longer, spark your curiosity by visiting parks or taking a nature walk, even if only in your backyard. When you set your inner child free with curiosity, you will discover that curiosity is a key ingredient for learning.

It is no surprise that we are more likely to remember what we have learned when the subject matter intrigues us, but it turns out that curiosity also helps us learn information we don’t consider all that interesting or important.

Did you know that those who are curious may also actively seek out challenges and new experiences to broaden their horizons?

Take a journal outside with you. Sketch the creepy crawlers; spiders, caterpillars, grasshoppers, ladybugs, and begin to form questions about each one. How many different types of caterpillars are there? What do they eat? Why are they fantastically beautiful?

Remember that AgeEsteemers continue to ask questions and think critically about the world around them because a curious mind continues to grow, even as the body ages.

Does winter seem to drag on with its uncomfortable chill and darker days? No matter how long the winter may seem, spring is just around the corner and the days will become longer and brighter.

With Spring’s unique energy you are offered the opportunity to renew parts of yourself that are hungry for growth.

Here are some ideas to let go of the old and make room for the new:

Get some fresh air and sunshine. Consider going for a stroll at a plant nursery and soak in all of the color and scents the flowers have to offer. Visit a farmers market and taste the freshest fruit the season as to offer. Begin to eat your meals outside again and appreciate the sound of a light breeze through your garden.

Celebrate with a family gathering. What a great time to call the grandkids and invite them over for a backyard party; bubbles and all.

Invest in a bird feeder for bird watching. Bird watching is fun for all ages and can be very educational. You’ll be amazed at the family discussions, research and excitement coming with seeing a new bird at your feeder.

Plant an herb garden. A modest herb garden provides not only gardening fun, but also healthy and tasty ingredients for your favorite dishes.

“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.” – M. Scott Peck

I encourage you see the hints of Spring all around you and renew the parts of yourself that are hungry for growth!

Isaac Newton once said,”If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.”

Think back to your youth. Were there people in your life that took an authentic interest in your future, or helped you see both sides of a situation that seemed overwhelming? Maybe a speech, or a family story that sparked a fire inside of you to make a difference in your community?

It is important to recognize that the relationships that pushed you beyond what you could have imaged for yourself are the shoulders of the giants that helped you see further than others. In turn, you now have the opportunity to be the shoulders for the younger generation.

Here are a few ways that you can empower the younger generation and give them the opportunity to see further than those before them.

Listen – While your ideas are valued, it is important to know that listening and truly hearing the ideas of the younger generation is so empowering. It gives them an actual space at the table to share their views and opinions.

Mentor – The vast majority of the younger generation desires to create change in their communities and around the world. They are in need of a supportive counselor who has the ability to push them beyond what they may have imagined they could accomplish. Thus, “passing the torch” and empowering the younger generation.

Be Humble – It is important to know that we cannot always think that our way is the right way. In order to empower the younger generation one must be humble and willing to admit when new ideas are better than our own.

Offer your shoulders to the youth and know that your AgeEsteem will spark empowerment in the youth of today.