This seems to be a month of action!  Not only is this the month of March, making you think of rhythmic steps and stomping feet. – It is also the month when Spring begins.

Rhythmic steps, stomping feet moving forward.  Add to this the leap and bounce of an upward spring.  This is clearly a month to move onward and upward with your age esteem.

Are you involved in regular physical activity that keeps you energized?  Physical exercise not only stimulates your body; it also keeps your mind alive.  Both increase your age esteem.

• Treat yourself to a daily walk.  Walking is one of the best exercises for your total well being, and the easiest.
• Join an aqua gym exercise class.  Water exercises are excellent and more gentle on your joints.
• Dance!  Research proves it to be one of the finest exercises for balance as well as being fun.  Dance to music at home or join a formal class.  Both are great options.
• Play with children.  Children seem to be constantly on the move.  You get exercise without even realizing it. – And it keeps your own inner child alive!
• Ride a bicycle.  Best is to ride outside on bicycle paths, but if this is not possible as stationary bike will do.  With the new outdoor electric bicycles, today you can ride up steep grades without hurting your joints.

Whatever you choose for physical action this is the month to commit to it.  Your overall health and age esteem will thank you.  When we feel good physically we are happier, healthier and more confident.

Bonnie Fatio

This is your time to bloom with Age Esteem!

Flowers are bursting forth with the first hint of warmth and sunshine as Spring becomes reality.

• Plan an activity with others.  Include older people and younger ones.  Make it intergenerational.
• Make a commitment to volunteer, join a new group or participate in a new activity.
• Encourage friendships with positive people, people who make you feel good.  Avoid those who bring a negative energy with them.
• Do something courageous.  Push yourself beyond your comfort zones.
• Give thanks for all the blessings of your life, large and small.

Age Esteem is a frame of mind, a way of life.  This is your time to bloom with an Age Esteem positive attitude!

Bonnie Fatio

Spring is a time of rebirth and new beginnings.

Spring offers us a message of renewal.  It is the time of year when ice melts and trees and flowers begin to bud with the promise of glorious blooms in the Northern Hemisphere.

This is also an ideal time for each of us to review our own areas for renewal and ask some powerful questions regarding our life.

Offer yourself time to review and renew by asking yourself the following questions.

• What desires and dreams have you been incubating during these fallow months of winter?
• Which of these do you want to nourish and grow?
• How can you help your dreams bloom into their full reality?

It is never too late to start something new.  No matter what your age. – Now is the time!

Bonnie Fatio

Do the sunshine and colors of Spring put a spring into your step?

Do you sometimes feel joy well up within you when you see the first  buds bursting on the trees, smell the odors of Spring or hear the birds chirping happily?   I do.  In fact I have caught myself  singing or  laughing out loud from the pure happiness of rediscovering Spring in the air.  It is as though the world is coming back to life after the dreary days of Winter and all God’s creatures share the pleasure.

Spring into Spring with enthusiasm and joy.  Both are there for the taking – and are free.  Simply meet nature head on.

• Walk among the trees.
• Listen to the chorus of birds.
• Take a handful of earth and feel it between your fingers.
• Savor the smells of flowers and buds.
• Plant seeds and bulbs for your own garden or window boxes.

Nourish your soul and age esteem with the joy of the season.  Spring into Spring!

Bonnie Fatio

Mirror Of Life

Mirror, Mirror on my wall,
Is who I see just part, or all?
Am I reflected in my acts?
Am I part fiction? – Or just facts?
Will I accept when needers call?
Can I be GREAT? – Not big nor small.
Mirror, Mirror of my Life,
Help me to help all those in strife,
And when I watch you look at me
I’ll emanate inner beauty.

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem

Blogs Like Frogs

These blogs are made for ruminations

Like frogs, they jump to all occasions

And leap into your deepest dreams

Of how to practice Age Esteem.

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem

Today you are honored as a woman!  This is the 100th anniversary of the first International Women’s Day, a perfect opportunity to honor women and girls of all ages.

This is a day to celebrate womanhood, sisterhood, and friendships.  It is a day to pay tribute to those who have gone before us and have helped pave the way, rejoice in those who are near to us and encourage the women and girls who follow.

In a recent speech, First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama said  “We should always have three friends in our lives – one who walks ahead who we look up to and follow; one who walks beside us, who is with us every step of our journey; and then, one who we reach back for and bring along after we’ve cleared the way. ”   This is what International Women’s Day is all about.

Happy 100th International Women’s Day!

Bonnie Fatio

Daily Age Esteem

When it is Monday,
Make it the one day
You haven’t a worry or care.

When it is Tuesday,
Chase away Bluesday
And do all the things that you dare.

When it is Wednesday,
Time for amends day
And tend to each problem’s repair.

When it is Thursday
(If it’s your worst day)
Repolish and shine away glare.

When it is Friday,
Make it a Try day
By choosing bright clothing to wear.

When it is Saturday,
(Mind over matter day)
Think proudly, with spirit to spare.

When it is Sunday
Have a nice fun day
Make Age Esteem your daily fare!

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem

“Esteemate” your qualities,

Fancies and frivolities;

Gleam with a new fortitude,

Resonating gratitude

For each and every new day’s chance

To liven up and be enhanced.

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem

Attending the Commission on the Status of Women with the World YWCA at the United Nations is an intergenerational experience, and an energizing one!

Women of all ages from the entire world share real life experiences in preventing, overcoming, and striving to eliminate violence against women and girls, discrimination, and racial injustice while promoting equal access to education, decent work, finances, health care, safety, political opportunities, decision making and dignity.

The intergenerational commitment to sharing these issues at each age and working together to promote women at every stage of living is essential to making this happen.

Look at your life at your age today in the environment in which you live. Imagine that

• You have no pure water. You walk for hours each day to carry the infected water that you do find.
• You are unable to attend school because your mother is ill and you must replace her to work in the home.
• You denied decent work opportunities or advancement in the workplace.
• You risk violence and rape on the path to school.
• You do not have access to health care. The nearest infirmary is three hours by foot.
• Your parents arrange for you to marry while you are still a child. You have no choice.

This may be difficult for you to imagine or it maybe the way life is where you live.  Either way it is important for discussions and solutions to be intergenerational.

Bonnie Fatio