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

Anandi Smith, 23, British & Nepalese

Age Esteem is definitely a positive message on how you deal with getting older.  It’s for all different ages.  When I hear the word it’s not just based on older people or younger people.  It’s for all ages.  You don’t lose your esteem simply because you get older, provided you have esteem.

Anandi’s Tips: I think mainly is to have good role models in people around you.  Obviously the media tells us that you’ve got to be young; old is bad.  I study the media all the time and they put this picture in your head of what you have to be.  No one really celebrates being older.  There also seems to be a gap.  It’s  good to be 25 and then you’re respected after you’re 40 but that gap in between is not celebrated.  You have all these expectations:  You have to have a boy friend, to get married, to have kids and a career.  There seems to be no celebration of this in between age, especially as a woman.  For example, if men haven’t gotten married in that time, their main focus is on their career.   If you’re a woman and have a good career at 25 you still aren’t fulfilled until you’ve ticked all the other boxes.  But then once you’re 40 you are old enough to be respected because of your age.

I look at my mom who just turned 50 this year and I can see that her peak in career is actually now.   Mine is just beginning and is just as exciting as hers, but I can see that the older she’s getting the more clever and intelligent she’s getting.  She’s wired.  Her career is moving.  I respect my grandma a lot.  She is on fire.  She knows everything that’s going on in the world.  She was one of the first teachers in the northeast region (England) that taught computers and she was very career ridden,  which in those days for a woman was quite strange.

I’ve been surrounded by older women that made me think positively about getting older.  I do have girl friends who are younger than me and I learn from them as well.  Their generation is different from mine.  They’re quicker than I am.  You can bounce off ideas and experiences with other people who have a whole different knowledge.  But role models for me are generally older than me.  There are lots of women who I want to be like when I reach their age.  I want to have their attitude and their energy.