You might know that pumpkins are a great source of beta-carotene, an antioxidant that plays a significant role in cancer prevention, and pumpkin seeds can fight bad cholesterol. However, did you know that a pumpkin is also good for your age-esteem?

Imagine yourself letting go of worries and concerns by allowing yourself to get into the mood of witches and goblins. Take part in a costume party. Wear something playful and out of the ordinary. Spend time carving a pumpkin and creating a work of art while enjoying the health benefits that pumpkin has to offer.

Grab some dark chocolate, benefit from those antioxidants and allow your age-esteem to shine this Halloween.

“You’re a bunch of old fogies”, my father told the homeowners. He spoke in his deep, commanding voice that made people sit up and listen, whether they wanted to or not.  It was an authoritative tone that often left people speechless.

His less than diplomatic outburst was because in the adult community where he lived people had forgotten how to interact with youth. To live there you must be 12 years old or older, and most residents were at least 65.

Why the excitement? Someone had rented their home to a family with teenagers.  And the teenagers made noise when they went to the pool in the evening. – Not raucous noise, but enough to be heard, just like the adults could be heard at the pool during the daytime.

In the eyes of the majority it was clear that something had to be done. Surely the youth were drinking, and maybe even taking drugs!

My dad was the only person who had taken an interest in the young people sitting around the pool. He had asked them questions and gotten to know them. Dad knew the kids at the pool were from the High School baseball team. Talk was about their latest game. Their drinks, which were sodas, were in plastic glasses to keep with the pool rules.

When Dad took his evening walk he made it a habit to go by the pool and to chat with them. They were “good kids” in his opinion and had the same right to bring friends to the pool as any other member of the community.

Certainly calling people “old fogies” is not recommended if you want people to listen to you. However, the story has a good message. Let’s not judge people of other generations by assumptions and generalities. Let’s chat with each other, work together, and take time to know each other as individuals.

An important key of age-esteem is to remain relevant, and to have active interaction with people of all generations.

Bonnie Fatio

Several of my peers are afraid to travel, because they do not feel comfortable traveling alone. If a friend were free and could afford to travel with them, they would gladly pack their bags.

Even the suggestion of joining a tour group where everything is organized and planned scares them. They still fear traveling alone.

One of my friends even backed out of a special invitation to Rome just because she was afraid she would not feel comfortable. (Rome is less than a three hour train ride from where she lives, and she is fluent in Italian!)

These same friends are always eager to hear about my travels and to praise me on how courageous I am to travel alone.

Another friend who lost her husband two years ago, travels alone to foreign countries to places she knows, and joins a tour group for the more exotic places that are new to her. As she says, “If the group is boring or not interested in including me in conversations, I always carry a good book to read during any free time or I strike out to visit something not on the tour.”

Not everyone wants to travel or can afford to travel. That is fine. What is disappointing is to see people give up part of the life they wish to live due to fear.

Are you among those who wish to travel but are afraid to go alone? The first step to doing anything new is to take that first step!

• Travel with an organization that specializes in destinations for older people. For example, Road Scholars (formerly Elder Hostel) has destinations where you are involved working together to help people within the country or have classes so you could easily get to know the others in the group, many of whom are also on their own.
• Take language classes to learn the language and culture of the country you wish to visit. It will give you confidence.
• Organize a trip with friends to a country that speaks your own language or join a tour to that country. It will be less foreign even though very different.
• You can prepare yourself to visit the country of your dreams by renting videos, researching on the internet, attending conferences and travel lectures.

You may also find that the first step is to plan a trip near home in your own country. Whatever you decide, the first step is all you need to get started.

Flaunt your age-esteem and take that first step!

Bonnie Fatio

Walking is one of the healthiest and most easily accessible exercises to keep yourself healthy as you age. And, except for the purchase of a good pair of walking shoes, it is free!

Walking, and doing other outside exercise, is healthier for you than exercising indoors with the treadmill, for example. Studies have shown that your brain functions better when you are not in an enclosed place. Your body is away from places that give it stress in the first place, like going to a spa in a building where you work. You feel happier and boosts your age-esteem.

Physical activity such as walking is very necessary in fortifying your bones and preventing osteoporosis. Walk for healthy aging.

Grandma Nature

The rules for raising children are in constant mutation!  These changes include everything from the rules of whether baby sleeps on her back, side or tummy to toliet training, to discipline, to how your child should learn at each age.

One thing that never changes for this grandmother though is her unconditional love for her grandchildren.  Yes, there is discipline.  It is necessary to set boundaries for safety and in order to learn to function in society.  However, the discipline is always accompanied with love and the boundaries outlined in caring.

In fact, this grandma often will take her five-year-old grandchild in her arms and sing the second verse of the poem, I love myself the way I am, by Emma Jane Rae.

It is a powerful affirmation of unconditional love.  Here are the words.

I love you just the way you are
There is nothing you need to do
When I feel the love inside myself
It´s easy to love you
Behind the tears, your rage and fears
I see your shining star
And I love you just the way you are

I know the child loves it because she will climb into my lap and begins the tune for me with a smile on her face. Yes, this, too, is important for my age-esteem.

Bonnie Fatio

Celeriac, the round bulb of the celery family, is rich in vitamin K, important for blood coagulation. Also found in the vegetable are minerals important for good functioning of the body. The calcium and phosphorous that it contains aid in strengthening bone structure.

Grandma Nature

Maya Angelou had a way of expressing profound statements in simple language that we could easily understand. Age was not an issue for her. She liked herself, liked what she did and liked how she did it. She was highly successful in expressing her thoughts.

Maya Angelou was an excellent example and advocate for AgeEsteem. She was and remains a role model of a person aging with confidence, conviction and commitment. Her self-esteem and age-esteem manifested in all that she did and said. It was expressed in her humor, her poetry and her manner of living.

Success at every age is about loving yourself, enjoying what you do, and liking how you do it.

Bonnie Fatio

Spinach is considered erroneously to be full of iron. It has less than the quantity needed to fulfill daily requirements. However, it contains calcium, necessary for good bone structure, and magnesium, which helps muscular contractions.

Two antioxidants, vitamins C and E, are also found in valuable quantities in spinach.

Grandma Nature

Fear knows no age limit. When we are fearful the fear fills our thoughts. It affects us physically as well as emotionally.

On a recent flight to Asia I was sitting next to a middle-aged man who was gripping the arm rests so tightly that every vein in his hands were bulging as we taxied on the runway. When I asked him if it was his first flight he replied, “Oh no. I just panic at takeoff. Then the flight will be fine.”

Since takeoff is my favorite moment, I shared with him what I love about takeoff. I explained my joy of looking down the full runway as the plane turns onto it, knowing that it is the pathway to where I am going. He joined me in looking out the window at just the right moment to see what I meant. The runway is a never-ending path to the sky. Then we concentrated on the sheer joy of being pressed back into our seats as the engines thrust the plane forward and together we counted the seconds until we were airborne. By then my flight mate’s hands were relaxed and he was speaking with me easily.

Part of dominating fear is to focus your thoughts elsewhere. You cannot be preoccupied with your fear and at the same time focus your thoughts on something else. It is simply not possible. Try it next time that you have an irrational fear. Talk to yourself about something else, something interesting and positive, or strike up a conversation with someone. Your fear will lessen and even disappear.

Bonnie Fatio

Our hair is an important part of our image. As we age, we raise many questions about how to care for our hair, since many begin to lose hair. There is also the question of how do I keep my hair healthy if am coloring it regularly.

Here are some tips from Grandma Nature suggesting things to do and not to do in order to maintain healthy hair.

• Do not wash hair daily.
• Cut hair regularly.
• Do not use the same shampoo year round.
• Do not use a hair dryer all the time. It dries the hair and can make it brittle.
• Dandruff is not a sign of unhealthy hair. Discover what the problem is so you can treat it accordingly.
• A bit of sun is good for the hair.

Healthy hair is one sign of healthy aging.

Grandma Nature