Suzanne Durham, 64, Alabama, U.S.A.

I love the positive spin that was put on Age Esteem, because now that I’ve become one of those older women I realize some of the bias and negative words that are out there like the Senior Citizen’s Club and those kinds of things.  So I love Age Esteem.  I immediately went to my own age; I went personal first.  I went to my own age of being 64, soon to be 65, and I thought that was a very positive way to frame my own issues around age.

My own concerns?  Personally I’ve noticed over the last couple years a loss of energy.  I get tired easier.  Although I still consider myself energetic and I do have some vitality, I have noticed a little bit of decline in energy and my job doesn’t allow that.  So I get tired and a little weary.  I’m also incredibly blessed to have extremely good health.  I’ve never had any diseases.  I had gastric bypass six years ago and I’ve lost 100 pounds.  I did that 6 years ago to get my energy back because I noticed that my weight was just really sapping my energy.  I was 245 pounds and lost to 145 and am now about 160.

Now I have some extra skin and sometimes ask myself, “Shall I have a tummy tuck or chin tuck?”  I always say that you can’t tell how old black women are because they have that great oil in their skin; and you can’t tell how old a fat woman is because of all the cellulite.  There is an advantage to cellulite in some places.

Suzanne’s tips:  Take care of yourself.  Exercise.  Do all the things we say to do to remain physically healthy.  I think you need to be mentally healthy as well.  You need to find that thing that brings you happiness and joy and that brings you spiritual energy and spiritual joy.  It goes back to finding the passion in your life that gives you spiritual energy.  It is important to stay active both physically and mentally.  I’m a former PE (physical education)  teacher so I’ve taught activity and I beat myself up mentally fairly often because I’m not as physically active as I know I should be.  I don’t always get that mile walk in every day that I try to.

Know your body.  Know the signs and symptoms and pay attention.  Pay attention to your mental well being as well as your spiritual health and your physical health.  Pay attention to your body.

Suzanne Durham is CEO of YWCA of Central Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama

Sunflower seeds offer a healthy snack that will curb your hunger while improving your health by offering you significant amounts of vitamin E, magnesium and selenium.

Sunflowers are thought to be among the first flowers to be cultivated in North America, probably originating in Mexico and Peru.  Native Americans used the seeds for both food and oil for over 5,000 years.

Sunflower seeds offer many health benefits.  They are rich in vitamin E bringing anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular protection.  The sunflower seeds’ phytosterols lower cholesterol.  The magnesium they offer calms your nerves.  Research also shows that magnesium helps to lower blood pressure and to prevent migraines as well as keep bones healthy and increase energy.  Selenium in sunflower seeds helps prevent cancer and helps repair damaged cells.

How do you build sunflower seeds into your diet?  Keep sunflowers handy as a snack; sprinkle them on your salads, cereal and sandwiches.  They can be added to most any recipe and even crushed into a powder to coat your meats and vegetables in place of flour.

When we are healthy and have energy we feel good about ourselves.  Snack on sunflower seeds to enhance your age esteem.

Grandma Nature

Paulette Senior, 48

For me Age Esteem means feeling good about myself no matter what age I am.

A concern that I have about aging is to have someone there with me, having company.

Paulette’s tips:  Keep moving.  Keep physical and keep working on inner self.  Always find a way to be thankful.  Just be thankful for your life, for living and getting up every day and for having a purpose.

Paulette Senior is CEO of the YWCA of Canada.

Happy World Teacher’s Day

What better way to follow “Words of Encouragement” than to give tribute to teachers.

Each of us has one or several teachers who have encouraged and inspired us.  They did it out of love and dedication to teaching and to helping us become smarter and confident in our own knowledge.  Most often teachers have to be satisfied with their own estimate of how well they did their job.  We were not over zealous in letting them know that we appreciated what they taught us or in telling them what we have done with our education.  But it is never too late.

Today is the ideal occasion to write a note of gratitude to a former or present teacher.  Formal education is a blessing that not everyone enjoys.  Search out your teachers on face book and through former classmates.  Make today a day of thanks for teachers.

Bonnie Fatio

Age Esteemers speak to themselves and others with words to encourage.  They grow confidence, skills and knowledge in others as part of their legacy.  They recognize their role as mentors and support and encourage others of all ages.  They share their own expertise and experience of living with openness and love.  They are eager to encourage as they help others to develop their qualities.

• Catch someone doing something new, challenging or difficult and support and encourage them.
• Revise and devise your vocabulary to give others a boost in confidence and to help them recognize what they do well.
• Look on encouragement as an opportunity to reach out to others as a mentor and guide.  You, too, will learn in the process.

Bonnie Fatio

Age Esteemers take responsibility for their own happiness.  They know that no one else can make you happy.  Riches cannot make you happy.  You are responsible for your happiness.

There is a lovely saying, « If you want to be happy, just be happy! »  It is as easy as that.  Happiness depends on you.  If you want to be happy, decide to be happy.  Curl up the corners of your mouth.  Put a smile on your face and look up.  It will change your whole perspective.

• Practice smiling.  Smile at yourself in the mirror.  Smile at people you meet.  Smile just for the pleasure of smiling, and see what happens.
• Smile when you wake up in the morning, even before you open your eyes; and make it the last thing you do at night before you drift off to sleep.
• Look for the happiness around you; look for the humor in the day.

Bonnie Fatio

People with age esteem recognize that they have choices, that they are masters of their own life.  They may not be able to control what happens to them all of the time or even most of the time, but they take control over how they act or react to what happens.

Age esteemers know they can choose to see what happens as an opportunity or as a catastrophe.  They can choose to be a victim, or they can choose to take action to move beyond the problem, to learn from it and benefit from it.

• Decide that you will become a can do, will do person who takes control.
• Look for the opportunity inside a difficulty.
• Remind yourself that you are in control.

Bonnie Fatio

Do you have an attitude of gratitude?

People with Age Esteem express gratitude.  Age Esteemers know the importance of not only feeling thankful, but also expressing appreciation and gratitude for what they have and what others do for them.  They choose to recognize the blessings of each day, no matter how great or small.

• Keep a gratitude diary where you record the highlights of each day for which you are grateful.
• Count your blessings when things seem difficult.  Remind yourself of all the good that surrounds you while you deal with a problem.
• Express openly to others your gratitude for what they mean to you.

Bonnie Fatio

People with age esteem have a positive attitude.  Studies show that people who enjoy life with a positive attitude live longer and happier lives.  This is not to say that they don’t have aches and pains like anyone else.  They simple choose to take a different view of life.  Rather than focus on their pains, they chose to concentrate on what goes well and to develop their interests.  They are engaged in living.

Age Esteemers know that when we focus on the brighter side of life, we draw other positive people and opportunities to us.

• Become aware of your thoughts and words.  Are they positive or negative.?
• Turn negatives into positives.  When you catch yourself complaining or discouraging yourself, change your phrase to make it positive and encouraging.
• Surround yourself with positive people.  Drop those who hold you back or put you down.  They don’t deserve your time.

Bonnie Fatio

Acknowledge your age.  Age is positive and natural.  We have been aging since the moment of birth. If we are breathing we are aging.   To age is to be alive.  Age is a gift, a gift that not everyone receives.  Rejoice and be glad that you are alive and aging.

Why should you acknowledge your age?  Why not just ignore it?  After all, today is just another day.

Is it?  You’ve experienced and learned every instant on your journey to reach the age you are now.  To look on today as just another day is ignore all you’ve gained by living.  It is to miss out on living this moment.  Today you are the youngest you will ever be.  To waste it is to miss out on the present.

Age esteemers acknowledge their age and focus on the advantages it brings.

Bonnie Fatio