Paul Ernest Charles Mastromatteo, 55,born in Toronto, Canada; naturalized US citizen

My first thought when I hear AgeEsteem is esteem, how you feel about yourself.  So when I hear Age Esteem I overlap that with age and self.  I take it as how you feel about yourself regardless of the age you are.  Age is first older, like aging.  I think if a person has age esteem they feel good about themselves whether they’re young and lively or older and spry.

With respect to aging there is always the issue of how you maintain your health because things happen at 50 that generally don’t happen when you’re 20.  You want to be sure that things are ok.  I mean, we all kind of plan on having an average life span, but not all of us get there.  It gets a little more complicated when you get to midlife, two thirds life and so on.  So that’s a concern, and sometimes you wonder about what would happen if I got arthritis or something and couldn’t swim or run or walk as much as I used to. – Just the simple everyday things.  These things become more possible as you get older and you have to be mindful of them.

Paul’s tips: I’ve always been pretty good about trying to stay fit.  I can’t say the same for this year; it’s kind of fallen off but I hope to get back to it.  I’ve been a runner and a swimmer for most of my life.  Whether it’s my metabolism or what, I’ve never really changed weight and that’s not something most people can say.  That might be more of a blessing than anything else.  I think that staying active is a good thing to do;  it has helped me stay in shape.  I like to think that I can still do a lot of things that I did when I was younger, I’m  just not as fast.

I would say it’s important to be balanced.  Keep your mind and your body active.  Be open to learning new things.  It’s kind of easy to say “I’m a certain age and will never be able to learn a new language”.  I heard recently one of the best ways to keep your mind active is to learn a new language.  It keeps your brain growing and developing.  Just staying close to people you care about.  Make sure you stay in touch.  It’s easy today with the internet, Skype, and everything.  So take advantage of those things. You can be in touch with someone every day who is thousands of miles away.  Not like in the old days of pen and pencil.  That’s meant a lot to me.

Paul Mastromatteo is presently completing his MBA at Thunderbird University.

Bonnie Fatio

I’m not sure who wrote this; I received it from a girl friend over the internet.  We know that friends are precious at all ages and are important for our Age Esteem,  but this also has a special message for you men. – Marriage is good for your health!

“I just finished taking an evening class at Stanford.  The last lecture was on the mind-body connection – the relationship between stress and disease. The speaker (head  of psychiatry at Stanford) said, among other things, that one of the best things that a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman whereas for a  woman, one of the best things she could do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends.

At first everyone laughed, but he was serious.

Women connect with each other differently and provide support systems that help each other to deal with stress and difficult life experiences. Physically this quality “girlfriend time” helps us to create more serotonin – a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well being.  Women share feelings whereas men often form relationships around activities.  They rarely sit down with a buddy and talk about how they feel about certain things or how their personal lives are going. Jobs? Yes. Sports? Yes. Cars? Yes. Fishing, hunting, golf? Yes.  But their feelings? Rarely.

Women do it all of the time. We share from our souls with our sisters/mothers, and evidently that is very good for our health.  He said that spending time with a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working out at a gym.

There’s a tendency to think that when we are “exercising” we are doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more productively engaged—not true. In fact, he said that failure to create and maintain quality personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking!

So every time you hang out to schmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for doing something good for your health! We are indeed very, very lucky. Sooooo, let’s toast to our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently it’s very good for our health.”

Inter-generational friendships are also important for our Age Esteem.

Bonnie Fatio

Philip Hardisty,  57, British

I think Age Esteem is working at your passion.  At the moment I’m concentrating on my painting career.  I have a business here in Geneva (Switzerland) but since I moved here it hasn’t really gone in the direction that I had wanted.  As I graduated as a painter and I’ve always  played with it over the years I think that I’m at a time of life where if I don’t go for it now, then possibly I’ll  never do it.  I think there is always something pulling me in that direction so that is the path I am trying to follow.

Age isn’t something that you really think a lot about until you become older.  I think that possible concerns for me are going to be health and how to survive, obviously financially, physically and like that.  I think these are probably the main concerns we become more aware of as friends become older, you become older, and your body doesn’t quite work like it used to. – All those sort of things.

Philip’s tips: For me it’s all mental.  If you think young you stay young.  I have a mother who is now 84.  To look at her she probably looks as if she’s in her late 60’s early 70’s and I think that it is all to do with mental approach; it’s a mental attitude.  Obviously you can’t control what happens to your body.  If things go wrong, things go wrong, but if mentally you have a young, positive  outlook, that to me is most important.  Try to be optimistic.  I think it gets more difficult to remain optimistic about things as you get older, but if you can remain optimistic it plays an important role.

I think it’s very important to have a passion.  Again these are things that you think about when you get older.  We only have one life so it’s very important to try and do the best we can to have a passion about what we do because you can’t go back.  It’s no good to go back saying, “I wish I had done that, etc.”  So if you have a passion it makes your life more pleasurable and you go on a bit longer; you enjoy achieving.

Philip Hardisty’s paintings can be viewed on appointment by contacting www.hardistyint.com.

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 Fatio

This year instead of making New Year’s resolutions, why not make a promise to yourself?

A promise is so much more powerful than a resolution.  Resolutions are usually statements about what we will not do.  We look back and try to correct our behaviors.  A promise is focused on realizing something that we want to do.  It is proactive and positive.

I challenge you to set a date with yourself with the goal of focusing on your dreams and passions.  What would you like to do in 2011?

• Is there a dream that you have tucked away and tried to forget?  Allow it to surface in your thinking and promise yourself to realize it in 2011.
• Do you have a passion that you have been smothering?  Release that passion and promise yourself to act on it in 2011.
• Are you wondering what your passion or dream is?  Ask yourself this question.  “If I knew I could not fail, if I could only succeed, what would I be doing now?”  Listen closely to your answer and promise yourself to bravely embrace that passion or dream and make it real.

2011 will become the year that you make it become.  Promise yourself to live your passion and realize your dream.  It is never too late, but only you can make it happen.  Start today and shine with Age Esteem in 2011!

Bonnie Fatio

This prayer brings a wonderful message for Age Esteem as we look towards the New Year and what we wish to accomplish in our lives.

The Knots Prayer

Dear God :

Please untie the knots that are in
my mind, my heart and my  life.
Remove the have nots, can nots and
do nots that I have in my mind.

Erase the will nots, may nots and might nots
that may find a home in my heart.

Release me from the could nots, would nots,
and should nots that obstruct my life.

And most of all, Dear God,
I ask that you remove from my mind, my heart
and my life all of the am nots I’ve allowed
to hold me back, especially the thought that
I am not good enough.

Amen

Author known to God

Bonnie Fatio

Are you tired of society’s relentless negative talk about age and aging?

Would you like to feel more confident at any age despite a few wrinkles and lack of energy?

Would you like to know some secrets to Age Esteem that you can practice immediately?

Would you like to start the new year with a meaningful promise to yourself, and make 2011 your year of “Aging with Pizzazz?”

Listen when Bonnie Fatio is interviewed by Sandra Haymon of Baby Boomers Sandwich on Tuesday 28 December at 6pm MST.

Listen and/or join the chat room at www.BlogTalkRadio.com/sandra-haymon.

Home alone for Christmas?  This blessed Christmas season can be a lonely one for many of us.  This becomes especially true as we mature and our children leave home, marry and have their own families and traditions.  Not everyone can travel long distances to be together.

If you are going to be alone, why not create some new traditions of your own?  Age Esteemers know that when you are reaching out to others, you no longer feel lonely.  Why not plan some activities like these?

• Find out if help is needed at the local soup kitchen for the hungry, reading the Christmas Story to people in the hospital, or distributing gifts to the poor.  Most churches and communities have programs like these.
• Search out others of all ages who might be alone and organize Carol singing on Christmas eve followed by hot chocolate and conversation, a homemade or white elephant gift exchange, or party to play board games.
• Bake cookies or candy or make candles or decorations that you can wrap and deliver to people who you know will not be able to leave their homes.  Your visit when you deliver your gift will be precious.  It may prove to be the greatest gift.
• Plan to phone three people each day to wish them Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas or simply to let them know you are thinking of them.  Include people who will also be alone as well as family and friends.

Share your vitality and joy for living, your age esteem.  Even if you have to pretend to feel happy when you begin to reach out to others, before you know it your happiness will be genuine!

Bonnie Fatio

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the holiday season ?  Is there too much to do and too little time to do it?  Have you forgotten the meaning of the season?

As we get older I think we often try to do even more to enhance the  season.  There have been so many happy traditions over the years that we sometimes find ourselves trying to incorporate them all!

Why not simplify your efforts?  Be creative.  Make the holiday season what you want it to be rather than what you think others expect.  Ask yourself some simple questions and listen closely to your answers.

• What is important to me at this time of the year: activities, people surrounding me,…?
• How could I simplify what I am doing to decorate, cook, entertain and gift wrap?
• What could I offer as gifts that would be meaningful and personal, yet inexpensive?
• Could I send New Year cards or Valentine cards rather than Christmas cards?

Chances are that you will come up with creative answers.

Bonnie Fatio

SAGE

It might be difficult to believe should one walk by a sage bush that it is such a valuable and versatile gift from Mother Nature.  In some parts of the world as in the south of France it may be found growing wild, so it is free as well as assuming one might pick a branch or two.

Probably the first thing one would think about sage is the Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey as it is an important ingredient in the stuffing.  It has healing powers too.  A hot sage gargle for sore throats and tonsillitis is recommended for curing these conditions   Add one or two teaspoons of dried sage to boiling water.  Then gargle!  The herb is not recommended for children due to the great amount of tannins found in it.

Actually there are two types of sage – Clary sage and Spanish sage, each with a different ability to treat symptoms.  Clary sage is efficient in combating stress or anxiety while Spanish sage is a more stimulating herb used in treating bronchitis, muscular aches and pains and poor circulation. Both treat conditions by baths, compresses, gargling and massage.

Used either in cuisine or for medicinal remedies, sage will bring comfort and joy to all.

Grandma Nature