Tina Rogers, Switzerland

I just think that at every and any age you have to esteem the age you are experiencing at the moment.  So whether you’re 15, 20, 40 or 60 there is something to learn and gain from life.  It is an esteem of life.  You’re alive, you’re vibrant.  It’s your life, so just enjoy it.

Tina’s tips: Always take an interest in life at every age.  Keep learning, keep excited, try to keep negative thoughts out of your life.  Enjoy. – Enjoy. – Enjoy!  Life is short.  Make the most of it.

Tina Rogers is a lifestyle coach and trainer.

David Muenker, 57, USA

Age Esteem is feeling good about yourself.  Being happy in your now with esteem at any age.  One of the things you would initially think of is age being older.  But I think it is regardless of the age you are.  Whether you are a teenager or 20 years old you still need to feel good about what you are doing, what you are contributing to the world, how you’re showing up.  Maybe it’s more critical for a lot of people of our age who have been sort of following a path that wasn’t what they wanted.  They weren’t following their dreams, just following what their education and expectations had led them to.  And now they are at a point of reexamining themselves and wanting to know how to place themselves in their reality, their now.

David’s tips: Smile at yourself.  It’s not as serious as you think.  Have fun.  That’s why we’re here.   Give as many hugs and kisses as you can.

David Muenker is an independent professional photographer.

Susanne Brennan 39, Australia

When I hear the words Age Esteem I think of however old you are you’re valuing the contribution you are making.  I remember a particular phrase that we were using and that was shared with me.  “Be yourself, because everyone else is taken.”  I liked it because I think it catches that idea about valuing who you are with your own uniqueness and your own difference. And I think one of the things we’re learning through the notion of inter-generational conversation is how wherever we are coming from whether it’s your age, your background, your culture or your education,  everyone is bringing a valued perspective to a conversation.

Susanne’s tips: I think for me it’s about taking every opportunity that comes and living without regrets, so not looking back and thinking, “Oh I wish I had”, or looking forward and thinking “I’m worried that I won’t have”, but rather  enjoying where you are and doing the best you can wherever you are.

Susanne Brennan is a barrister in Melbourne, Australia and president of the World YWCA.

Rose Muenker, 61, USA

Age Esteem is loving life and loving who I am.

Rose’s tips:  Just really sense in your own heart what it is that makes you feel good about yourself and good about your life and not be distracted by what the outside world is saying you ought to be thinking, how you should feel, how you should act, how you should think.  Authenticity, honesty.  Just really doing and saying and being what makes you feel comfortable in your own skin.

Rose Muenker is a professional writer and writing coach and workshop leader.

For the last two years I have dyed Easter eggs with our granddaughter, Jessica.  Jessica is now almost three, so it was especially enjoyable dying eggs together this year.  It was so much fun that when I saw her last week she announced, “I want to color eggs today.”

As I opened my mouth to explain that we only color eggs for Easter, I abruptly closed it.  Why shouldn’t we paint eggs at other times of the year?   It is a good example of how we place limits on ourselves and nip creativity and an open mind.  Here I was about to instill a limit on the same child who I want to become confident, setting her sights high knowing that she can do anything she sets her mind to.

It shook me up.  Am I also influencing her age-esteem?

Our AgeEsteem is greatly influenced by limiting thoughts.  Examples abound with messages bombarding us showing us that youth is associated with opportunities  and age with obstacles.  Youth is freedom, age is a burden.  These limiting concepts are cemented into our minds. –  Even though we know these messages are not true.   Who says we shouldn’t travel alone, drive a race car, climb mountains, start a new business…?

Break down your personal limiting barriers.

• Listen to yourself when you speak out loud and to your thoughts.
• Filter your messages.  Are they limiting what you think can be done?
• Ask yourself why you think this way.  Has someone fed you this message often so you now believe it?
• Make a list of these limiting beliefs.
• Act on them.  Just do what you have previously limited yourself to believe you could or should not do.

My granddaughter and I will color eggs again next week.  Sometimes changing a limiting belief  is as simple as that!

Age Esteem is a basic essential for succeeding in social, economic and religious issues.  We must first feel good about ourselves at the age we are today, every day, if we are to be effective in our relationships with other women, girls, men and boys of all ages.  To be able to contribute our best and to nourish others and help them grow, we must first feel confident about ourselves.

This was reconfirmed by multiple speakers during the Commission on the Status of Women which I attended at the United Nations in New York last month.  The Honorable Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was one of these speakers.  Mrs Robinson insisted on our right to dignity and equality, sharing the opening sentence of the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that states:

« Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, »

She emphasized that it is important to combine dignity with human rights.

Dignity

• Represents our inner sense of worth.
• Is relative to the cultural, environmental, social and spiritual.
• Depends on relations with others.
• Is holistic, encompassing all other aspects of life.

To have AgeEsteem is to age with dignity.

Pauline Mawaka in her interview (see March 21, 2010) referred to several secrets to her own AgeEsteem.

• Purpose: When she retired she began the Senior Women Citizens for Change in Kenya to combat the violence against older women.
• Passion:  She lives her passion for helping women.    “Women encourage me, so I keep my energy.”
• Control:  Pauline says, “I control my own life.   I control my thoughts and my body.”
• Sing:  Do something that you love, that lightens your heart.
• Reach out:  Pauline’s purpose is directed towards “shaking the world”, and bettering the lives of Kenyan women.
• Social contact:  She has regular interaction with others through her singing and work.
• Spirituality:  “Knowing that God loves me” makes it possible for her to continue despite difficult situations.