Do you have a dream hiding within you? – Something that you have always wanted to do or to make happen?

Action towards your dream is the same as starting a journey. It begins with the first step you take. Just think how much closer to your dream you would be today if you had acted on it when you first dreamt it!

How will you feel a year from now if you do not take that first step now?

Our greatest regrets are not about what we have done; they are about what we did not do.

Begin the journey to reach your dream today!

Bonnie Fatio

The good news is that you can eat everything! The consensus among most dieticians and nutritionists is that all kinds of food should be eaten in order to maintain a healthy body. The only drawback is not to eat too much, except for fruits and vegetables, and not to eat too much of any one food.

Advice from a dietician

• Eat 3 main meals a day.
• Have starch with every meal. Dark is better: bread, rice, pasta. Starch has the vitamin B complexes and is important for a strong nervous system.
• Eat meat, fish, eggs, or another source of protein once a day to strengthen the organism. 15% of protein is needed each day.
• Three portions of calcium are needed each day in order to regenerate strong bones and teeth. Low fat calcium products are found everywhere.
  Enjoy fruits and vegetables as much as you like. They are rich in vitamins and low in calories. However, fruits do have a lot of sugar, so if you are controlling sugar intake, three fruits a day are enough.
• Get up and move at least a half hour each day. Go outdoors if possible, to oxygenate the body, to use up calories and to exercise the heart.

When watching weight, all of the above may be eaten in smaller quantities.

Do not deprive yourself of anything except when illnesses like diabetes or allergies are present.

Enjoy! They also say it is healthy to eat slowly and savor each bite.

Grandma Nature

It is never too late to dream. No matter what your age, today is the first day of the rest of your life! Why not use it to imagine a fulfilling future?

Imagine all that you would like to do, see, learn and experience. Open all of your senses. What would you like to touch, feel, smell, see, hear?

What do you want your life to look like in the future? What we imagine, think about and visualize in our thoughts becomes our reality. – And only you control your thoughts.

What you say to yourself is as important as what you say to others. When you have happy, positive thoughts, you become happy.

Take time now to imagine the life that you want. Yes, it comes back to the image of the glass half full or half empty. Whether you are 10 or 110, how you live the rest of your life depends on you!

Bonnie Fatio

The little black currant fruit is full of remedies.

• It protects the heart from free radical damage.
• One study showed that the juice improved night vision.
• Similar to cranberries the black currant contains anti-bacterial properties that help to alleviate urinary infections.
• Black currant tea is efficient in treating coughs and sore throats.

The little black currant is also very tasty and easy to use in juices, salads, jellies and desserts.

Grandma Nature

This poster speaks to me and my age-esteem. – And it speaks even louder as I gather years. It isn’t how many years I have lived or how many more years I may have. It is how much I have lived during my years here on Earth.

None of us knows how long we will live or what may lie ahead on our path. That is not in our control. What we do influences how we live each day.

Are you truly living your life? Ask yourself these five questions to get started.

• Am I fully present for others? When I am with them am I truly ‘with’ them?
• Do I consciously use my senses of sight, sound, smell, feel and taste?
• Am I doing something that will positively influence the lives of others, even though I may never see the results?
• Do I laugh each day and celebrate often?
• Do I live with emotion, passion and joy?

Add to these questions what makes you feel that you are fully “alive” as you live each day. I would love to hear your thoughts.

One of the keys to age-esteem is to live each day. Make the most of now!

Bonnie Fatio

We often have more time to reflect on our lives when we are older. The fact that we are in control of our thoughts and our thoughts influence our happiness becomes even more evident. This is especially obvious when our minds drift back to what has happened in the past, or to what might happen in the future.

Happiness is within us. Each of us can find what makes us happy, if we want to. However, sometimes we get lost wallowing in our misery. It seems easier to be a victim of circumstances and place the blame for our misery on others.

Well get over it! If you want to be happy, just BE happy! It is as simple as that.

Hard to believe? Trust me, it can be done. Here are three simple exercises to help you begin.

1. Read the message on the balloon at the top of this page and ask yourself, “How much energy do I waste either regretting something from the past, or worrying about something that might happen today or tomorrow that I have no control over?”

Each time that you begin to worry, feel sad or unhappy, ask yourself whether you can do something about it. Can you prevent an earthquake? No. Can you bring someone back who has died? No. Can you take back cruel words spoken in anger? No. So don’t harbor them. Move on to new thoughts. – Happy thoughts.

2. Project your thinking towards what makes you feel good. Act on what makes you happy. Go for a walk in nature. Invite friends for a tea party. Phone a grandchild or cousin who makes you smile. Do something that makes you feel good.

Tip: When you speak with friends or family and they ask you how you are, simply say, “Fine, thank you.” Think of something interesting and uplifting you can share with them, like how beautiful the sunset was, a book you are reading, or a funny memory that you share. Others like to hear happiness in your voice.

3. Become allergic to the negative people around you. You know the ones I mean. They are the energy vampires who leave you feeling exhausted and depressed because of their negativity. Remove these people from your life. Replace them with people who give you energy, who are positive, supportive and encouraging to you. They are the ones who are already champions at letting go of what they cannot change. Use them as role models.

As you practice these suggestions, you will find that your happiness will increase, as will your age-esteem. You are in control.

Bonnie Fatio

My husband and I spent all day yesterday traveling from Geneva, Switzerland to Florida. To our surprise, customs and the ride between terminals went rapidly so we were left with a rather long transfer time in New York. We decided to go into a sit-down restaurant to get some non-airplane food to eat. It was an experience that made me wonder if my outlook is out-of-date.

Although someone did come over to see if we needed help ordering, he was not there to take our order. Instead, standing in front of each of us was an iPad and we were expected to order on them! When we ordered and wished to pay cash, we were promptly told that the restaurant took no cash!  Luckily we keep our credit cards for special needs. – This was a special need!

We then settled down to wait for our food. The only difficulty was that the two iPads in special holders made it impossible to see each other and have a conversation. Instead, we found ourselves staring at an iPad inviting us to surf the web.

Hmm. Is this a sign that I am not with it? Yes, I am older and part of a different generation from the younger ones who thrive on such eating spots. Not only do you not need to have a conversation, the system is also set up so each person can order and pay separately. – Yes, there was a separate place for each to swipe our cards.

At the risk of sounding out of date, I will say that I personally still love to sit across from someone I can see and with whom I can have a direct conversation. So be it! My age-esteem is alive. I will still have my dinner conversations while others share theirs with an iPad.

“Each life is linked to all life.
Your thoughts, words and actions create a ripple effect; much like a stone thrown into a pond.
The quality of that ripple effect…is your legacy.”
– Kosta Stoyanoff

What kinds of ripples do you send into the world? Are they positive and empowering of others, or negative and demeaning?

Since you are reading this with age-esteem I know you are probably the former most of the time. It can be difficult sometimes, though, and takes practice.

One of the reasons I like the quote above is because it refers to the ripple effect. When we stop to think that everything we say and do has a ripple effect, we focus on the power of our words and actions. Whatever our age, abilities, experience, or knowledge, we are a role model for others in everything that we do.

I believe we are especially important role models as we age. Who else can better show the world what aging means today? Who else can be an effective model to demonstrate age-esteem? Who else can share the history that you have lived? Who else can better transmit values and ethics through example?

The ripple effect of our words and actions become our legacy. We will never know how many lives we have touched as part of our legacy, but we will know how we have lived as a role model for others to emulate.

Bonnie Fatio

“Each life is linked to all life.” – Kosta Stoyanoff

As I gather years, it becomes ever clearer to me that we are indeed all related to each other in multiple ways. And, often it seems that serendipity (call it what you wish) brings people into my life when we need the other, we have a reason to meet. That reason may simply be the joy of knowing each other, yet experience has shown me that it is more than chance.

Can you think of moments in your life when either an old friend or someone new has popped into your life just at just the moment you needed them, even though you may not have realized that you needed them? It happens to me often.

An example was when I was interested in learning more about my paternal grandparents. I had never asked them the right questions when they were alive. It was summer and we invited a church group, which friends had belonged to while working in the U.S., that was touring Europe to picnic at our home in France. Sitting under a tree with several of them, I discovered that one of the women not only knew my grandparents, we were also related. She shared stories that helped answer some of my questions.

There are multiple times when a friend has shown up just when we needed her. Like the time our dog seemed to be gagging on something when the father of our daughter’s friend showed up at the door. He raised dogs and immediately knew what to do.

A Chinese proverb explains that when we are born we are attached with an invisible thread to all the people we are meant to meet in life. I easily believe it. Having meaningful relationships with people of all ages is an ingredient of age-esteem.

Bonnie Fatio

Ripples
A poem that remains in my memory from childhood and one that I often recite, in the words I remember vs. the correct ones, is shared below. The message is simple, powerful and valuable for each of us. – There are lasting ripples resulting from each of our words and actions.

Drop A Pebble In The Water
By James W. Foley

Drop a pebble in the water: just a splash, and it is gone;
But there’s half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on,
Spreading, spreading from the center, flowing on out to the sea.
And there is no way of telling where the end is going to be.

Drop a pebble in the water: in a minute you forget,
But there’s little waves a-flowing, and there’s ripples circling yet,
And those little waves a-flowing to a great big wave have grown;
You’ve disturbed a mighty river just by dropping in a stone.

Drop an unkind word, or careless: in a minute it is gone;
But there’s half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on.
They keep spreading, spreading, spreading from the center as they go,
And there is no way to stop them, once you’ve started them to flow.

Drop an unkind word, or careless: in a minute you forget;
But there’s little waves a-flowing, and there’s ripples circling yet,
And perhaps in some sad heart a mighty wave of tears you’ve stirred,
And disturbed a life was happy ere you dropped that unkind word.

Drop a word of cheer and kindness: just a flash and it is gone;
But there’s half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on,
Bearing hope and joy and comfort on each splashing, dashing wave
Till you wouldn’t believe the volume of the one kind word you gave.

Drop a word of cheer and kindness: in a minute you forget;
But there’s gladness still a-swelling, and there’s joy circling yet,
And you’ve rolled a wave of comfort whose sweet music can be heard
Over miles and miles of water just by dropping one kind word.