The New Retiree

The new retiree looks very little like the person who retired from her job a generation ago.

Besides being more actively engaged in life, there is another major difference.  The retired population now represents several generations.  Our lives last much longer.  To become 90 is not unusual.  To live to be 100 years of age is no longer so exceptional.  In Japan there are more than 50,000 centenarians.  The number of women centenarians doubles every 10 years.

This means that retirees cannot be viewed as one common group of people with common needs.  With as many as three generations represented among retirees our interests, concerns and outlook on life and death are very different.

As we live longer and interact with multiple generations who are both pre and post retirement age esteem becomes even more important.  Age esteem, feeling confident about ourselves as we age, is a necessary component to help us live our retirement years with a healthy and happy outlook.

Bonnie Fatio

Nature’s Clever Scheme

Our lives are just like seasons

Ever changing and renewed,

We age for many reasons,

There’s no time to fret or brood!

We Spring first towards Summer’s suns

Then Fall forth ‘till Winter comes.

Think of Nature’s clever scheme

When you practice AGE ESTEEM!

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem®

Aging Today

Do we sit back with complacency and let others decide what we should be like as we age?

I believe we do. That is why reference to aging most often refers to being a burden on society, illness, loss of mobility, loss of memory, and dependency.

To be a senior, mature, and an elder is rather something to be proud of. It indicates we have lived and experienced years of lessons from living. We are wise and capable of even greater contributions to the world because of these years of living.

Proof of this is easy to find. Look at former leaders like Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, and Mary Robinson; or actors like Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford and Judi Dench; or Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton…

Today we are proving that there is indeed life after 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and even 100! We are still running marathons, teaching, producing films, inventing, composing, leading, raising grandchildren, and making significant contributions in all areas of society.

It is time for us to stand in our own significance to speak out for what older people truly represent for society.

Bonnie Fatio

Our Autumn Days

 We’re entering our Autumn days,

That sounds like my own “Oughta” phase.

 I oughta start out every minute

With only positive thoughts within it!

 I oughta be so grateful for

The Life outside my home’s front door.

 I oughta give my age a chance:

A kind of Autumn leafy dance,

And shimmer like a Harvest moon

As Twilight enters in my room.

Autumn ought not end a Summer’s dream,

It oughta Fall on Age Esteem!

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem®

L I V E !

Remember to LIVE your age.

It is not enough to be alive.  We need to live!  We need to celebrate life, to show an attitude towards aging that is positive.  An attitude that says, “Wow! Now we are able to come into our true being.  We are able to understand who we are, building on the past in order to contribute more fully to the future.

I believe an important part of our mandate is to become examples of positive aging by genuinely loving who we are today – and tomorrow, and the next days.  The Baby Boomers are the generation which has set the trends as they have aged together.  It is now time to set the trend for us, the seniors +.

What an awe-inspiring opportunity we have!  Let’s show our age-esteem.  We are the role models.

Bonnie Fatio

Bonnie spoke at the United Nations Pre-Retirement Seminar on Embracing Retirement With Age Esteem on April 16th.

• As a retiree today you represent a new breed of retiree, very different from your predecessor.
• How you feel about yourself at the age you are today, every day, will influence how well you age and how well you live.
• Age Esteem is the decisive factor.

Take Pride In Your Own Age Esteem! 

One, two, three, four,

What ARE you waiting for?

Five, six, seven, eight,

Enjoy life; it’s not too late!

Nine, ten, eleven, twelve,

“Dig” each day – Dare to delve

Into and on, way past thirteen…

Take pride in your own Age Esteem!

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem®

Middle Age

 Middle age, that’s how we can

Be somewhere in between.

Not young. Not old, the spectrum span!

And either way esteemed!

There is no age to attitudes,

You are the way you feel.

So down with ancient platitudes

And let your “age bells” peal!

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem®

Life’s Most Rewarding Age

Every time I start to dream

Of growing young, (as I have been),

I think how lucky I’m esteemed

For what I’ve learned since a young teen:

The Ups and Downs, it’s taken years

To comprehend and calm my fears!

I wasn’t wise when I was young,

It’s only now I’ve shed and wrung

Away the useless tears and rage

And live Life’s Most rewarding Age !

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem®

Tracey Trottenberg, 41, Los Angeles, CA (from Montreal, Canada)

What comes to mind when I hear the term Age Esteem is feeling good about who you are at whatever age you age.  Esteem for me is feeling proud, and a sense of being in your body and in your essence and just feeling good about you and who you are at whatever age, stage you are now in your life.

My concerns about aging I would say are related to health. I am healthy and I feel good and I recognize that, especially being from Canada and now living in the US, the whole healthcare situation is a concern.  What is that actually going to look like in quality care and access to it, and from a financial standpoint, a quality standpoint.  That is definitely on my mind not just for me, but for others as well.

I would say also just the cost of living healthy and consciously is a concern.  I exercise and I try to eat well and having access to healthy food and good  nutritian and nourishment is important not just for me but for others.  There is such craziness going on in the food industry  with the high cost of the good stuff.

Tracey’s Tips:  For me aging well is so much about the mind, having a healthy mind and having a sense of wherever you are in the journey. Ever since I was a young kid I’ve had a tremendous amount of appreciation for aging and for the process of wisdom and the life experiences that comes with the lines and the greys and the various phases along the journey.  I was very close to my grandparents.  So for me it is about mind set. It is appreciating the journey and making peace with whatever from the past is still stirring those inner demons.  I would say that’s the biggest thing.  Then to live well wherever you are.  There’s a freedom, there’s a wisdom, there’s a peace with a sense of knowing I’m okay.  We were struggling. We have that inner war with those inner demons.  It doesn’t matter what age we are to have that peace and sense of okayness.  That is key to aging and living well.

Tracey Trottenberg is an international speaker in leadership and communication expert.                                           

Photo credit: Bonnie Fatio