Jolanda van Tol, 46, Netherlands

AgeEsteem means I believe in age.  I am counting the years until I turn 50.  My life is going much better than I was at 35 or even younger.  And if people say you look 39 it’snot a compliment because I know myself now and I am happier now.  I am really looking forward.  That is why my hair is grey and nothing is going to change that, ever.

My concern with becoming older would be my health, my mobility but we will figure it out when it happens.  Also perhaps my independence if I could not do things for myself anymore and have to have others make decisions for me.  Those are the only things.

Jolanda’s Tips:  Age just happens!  Accept yourself.  Just accept yourself the way you are.  It is the way it is!  You don’t need to try to look younger with all the techniques.  You still can have nice breasts, butt and no wrinkles at 47.  I love old women.  You know Simona Signoret?   She was beautiful before she died.  Try to be happy.  Keep yourself healthy.  Just move around.  Not to exercise in a room, but just walk and bike and move!  Don’t lay down.  Don’t take a nap in the afternoon like my mother did from age 35.  No, just go on and go to bed early, but stay up all day.

Jolanda van Tol, helps people recognize their qualities and make them visible, www.Gloedvol.nl

Photo credit: Paulissimo

If only I could travel more,

If only I weren’t such a bore!

If only I had curly hair,

If only I have more to wear.

If only I were MUCH younger,

And able to curb my hunger!

IFS make rifts with AMs and AREs

Be HAPPY now – you’ve come so far!

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem®

It seems that often when there is a special occasion or fancy event smoked salmon will be on the menu.  It could be called the caviar of today.

How healthy salmon is! It is a delight for us as we age.  For once, fat is good. (The right kind, that is.) We have been hearing so much about the omega-3 fatty foods, and salmon is one of them.  It is a wonder drug for cardio-vascular health, keeping the heart in tip-top shape, raising good cholesterol and lowering blood pressure.

Being a fatty fish, salmon is helpful in easing inflammation and curing arthritis.  Alzheimer’s is also a disease where the fatty fish may be effective.

Salmon may be eaten in many different ways, smoked, baked, cold, and hot.  Enjoying oily fish once or twice a week is a beneficial way to improve your health.

It is true, however, that on some fish farms dyes are used along with antibiotics to help raise the fish, so wild salmon is the healthiest.

In any event, you cannot go wrong by enjoying salmon – the fatty fish!

Grandma Nature

Ivy Slater, 49, New York City, NY

Age Esteem brings to mind a warmth.  Age Esteem to me is our esteemed age. – Not growing old or that we are x years old.  Old is negative, esteem is positive so AgeEsteem is seeing each additional year that we age as being more esteemed, more knowledgeable – and the more special we are.

One concern I have is that my body will keep up with my mind.  I don’t worry about my mind because I love to intake.  I work hard to make my body keep up with all the things that I still see ahead.

Ivy’s Tips:  Keep wonderful women around you, empowering women around you.  Surround yourself with women who are open of heart, open of mind, and encouraging.  – Women that you encourage and support, and who support you.

Exercise.  As opposed to pounding at the gym, I suggest walking with your girl friends.  Walking with women is both physical and mental.  Be kind to yourself and kind to your body.  Give your body what it needs when it needs it.  I would be the first to tell you that I love my ice cream, but we must make our choices.  Make sure that you take care of your body.  Don’t eat all junk food.  Make sure you spend time taking care of your outer body as well as your inner body.  So take Yoga classes or pilatis or walk with friends or go to the gym if that is how it works for you, but take the time.  Take the mental time and time for peace.  We are right here at the Women’s Global Summit and meeting and sharing interesting stories, but then at the end of the day you must digest it. – Letting it all sink into your mind, your body and your spirit.

Ivy Slater is a business coach working specifically with women in business, women entrepreneurs and women in sales at Slater Success Coaching.

At first we fell for Bonnie

And her beautifell new theme,

Then it befell our bodies

How to practice AgeEsteem.

We fell into a new approach

Of facing fellow peers.

How awfell it is to reproach

The bountifell new years!

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem®

Farewell

A Farewell to all who read Bonnie’s Blog,

I am leaving, but remain all agog

At her Positive ways: they’re as bright as they seem.

Just read all of her pages – they number in reams!

She’ll help you to realize all of your dreams,

And make you a part of her planned Age Esteem!

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem®

Note:  She wrote this as she left for two months vacation not realizing that she had contributed enough poems to keep us supplied until she returns.  Thank you Alexandra!

When looking at radishes we might think of lovely little rosebuds.

Radishes have existed for centuries though radishes then were not exactly the same as those we have today. They were used over 3000 years ago by the Chinese and later by the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans for medicinal purposes.  Coughs and hemorrhages were the main conditions that were treated. They are very low in calories, rich in vitamins and minerals, iron and iodine.

To complement their spicy taste, eat them with butter or salt.  They make a delicious and nutritious snack, as an appetizer or in a mixed salad.

Grandma Nature

Grace Chumley, 52, Washington

What comes to mind when I hear the term Age Esteem is as you are getting older embracing who you are and being proud of that, and not wanting to shrivel up and think that your life is over.  – To still know that you have something to contribute to society.

Living in the United States a real concern with aging is to have the finances to survive with the Social Security falling apart. So my biggest concern is what will become of me when I no longer have an income that I am earning through work.  We are fighting that here.  Government wants us to retire even older, which gives us no time to live.  By the time we do get to where we can retire and not have to actively work in earning income we don’t have a chance to live any more.  That isn’t productive.  We have worked all our lives.  I think we should be able to enjoy our lives and live.  I worry that there will not be the finances there, or the care that I need if I need to have care.

Another concern is not having a community to live in where you are also accepted as someone who can contribute.  I know that my parents’ generation said, “Don’t ever put me in a home”.  Now we have better homes and better assisted living but they are unaffordable to some people.  So, will my children take care of me?  What will happen?  Will I have a community of friends I can do things with?  Will I have companionship, friendships?  These are concerns.

Grace’s tips:  On a looks level, I’ve always taken very good care of my skin.  I’ve always felt that was important so I’ve taken care of myself that way.  I obviously need to take care of myself better with exercise; but I think what has kept me feeling young is having a positive attitude and smiling.  It’s my best attribute.  I love to laugh.  I love to laugh at myself.  I remember coming home one time and saying something that I had done that was really stupid.  My husband was like, “Why do you want to tell me about that?  That is so embarrassing.”  I thought no, I am embracing how strange and silly I was.  It’s fun.  I’m laughing at myself with the world, not at myself in a negative way.  So I think laughing and smiling is just something that keeps me young at heart.  I love to smile.  I love to teach youth to smile.

I think we have a choice in life.  I have chosen to be happy with whatever is thrown at me.  I think that is a choice we can individually make.  We can look at our lives and we can be angry; we can be sad; or we can be happy.  I think if we choose to be happy we can be much more productive, have more fun and share that with other people.  Then they will have fun too, love life, embrace it.

Grace Chumley, Grace Under Pressure, Chumleyfamily.blogspot.com   

(If you have ever had to deal with the death of a loved one, this blog may be of precious help.)

Photo credit: Bonnie Fatio

It is time, at this stage

To stop thinking of age !

We should just keep on working

At LIFE and NOT shirking

Our heartfelt endeavor

To always be clever !

So kick up your heels

And see how it feels

To grow younger while older

Filled with wonder and bolder !

You’ll see what it means

To have age esteem.

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem®

When shopping in the grocery store from September to January you will probably see round red items in the fruit department.  They look like miniature pumpkins except for the color.  The skin is very hard and should you not be familiar with them, they are pomegranates.

When cut in half, they offer a lovely surprise!  The fruit is brimming with many beautiful shiny little dark red seeds.  Do not throw these seeds away!  This is the fruit, and what a fruit it is for good health.  The pomegranate is the oldest cultivated fruit and was thought to have healing powers. Today these healing powers have been proven, through many studies, to be correct.

Pomegranates are so rich in antioxidants that they surmount red wine and green tea.  Known as having anti-inflammatory properties, they are one of the most valuable foods for preventing heart disease.

Studies have shown as well that pomegranate juice helps to prevent or contain cancer, especially prostate cancer, but could be beneficial for other types as well.  As if these attributes were not enough this amazing fruit is saturated with vitamins A, C and E as well as potassium, making it important in lowering blood pressure.

Apart from juice, the seeds can be put on a green salad, for example, to accompany a festive meal.  They may also be added to rice to give a zesty flavor.  Chefs are finding more and more ways to use the pomegranate in their cuisine.  Why don’t you try the pomegranate as well and reward your body?

Grandma Nature