New Beginnings

Let us toast to the New Year’s Beginnings,

Let us boast our new powers of forgiving,

Let us host and become more engaging,

Let us most of all fear NOT old-aging.

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem

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

Rejoice!
Let your voice
Be the clue
To the you
Of your Choice.

Written by Alexandra Taylor after the chapter “Rejoice” in the book
AgeEsteem: Growing A Positive Attitude Toward Aging
by Bonnie Lou Fatio

Letting go
The ropes that keep us
Tied to life-long habitudes
Live as though
you’re free and fearless
To face each day’s vicissitudes.

Written for Age Esteem by Alexandra Taylor after the chapter “Letting Go”
in AgeEsteem: Growing A Positive Attitude Toward Aging
by Bonnie Lou Fatio

Regard less yearly aging
Regard more, and then esteem
The Joys of Life, and be engaging
in Fulfilling your own dreams.

Written for Age Esteem by Alexandra Taylor

Autumn Lessons

Switzerland has a new campaign to remind drivers to “Slow down, take it easy”.  Whether or not we drive, this is good advice.  Slow down.  We all gain when we take time to slow down, step out of our routine, get a new perspective, re-evaluate and renew.  It also helps build our age esteem.  How do I want my life to be?

• Take a walk among trees and breathe in the odors of autumn.
• Lie on the autumn floor to get a new perspective of the trees and colors.
• Sit quietly with your eyes shut and commune with nature through the smells, sounds and feel.
• Feast your eyes on the beauty that surrounds you.
• Write your thoughts in a journal while in the midst of nature, allowing your thoughts to flow directly to your pen with no sensorship.

Bonnie Fatio

UP with growing older
Let your spirit soar,
Every day you’ll be much bolder
And wiser than before.

Written for Age Esteem by Alexandra Taylor

Monday, Sunday, Friday, Saturday
Every day an even better day.
Shuffle through the leaves of Time,
Celebrate your age, and climb
Each moment to it’s highest measure
Thankful for the slightest pleasure.

Sunday, Monday, Friday, Saturday
Every day an even better day.
Learn and grow through gathering years
Esteem your age and calm your fears
Read your heart and speak your spirit,
Truth is the world as how you see it.

written for Age Esteem by Alexandra Taylor

Planting sunflower seeds with Grandpa

Last year’s sunflowers are already enjoying a new beginning.  Their precious seeds are being planted and a whole new cycle will begin.  And thus they continue to live on and on.

Bonnie Fatio

The sunflower eventually fades and dies.  It’s leaves dry and its color dulls.  But even then it has a beautiful lesson for us.  Not only do we hold its beauty in our mind, but the sunflower continues to live on in multiple ways.

• Sunflower oil for cooking,
• Animal feed,
• Bio diesel fuel
• Healthy, tasty sunflower seeds, and
• Cleaning toxins from the environment.

Bonnie Fatio