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.

Going to the movies is a wonderful exercise for our age-esteem.   Why not take a look at our critic’s choices over the next three days and treat yourself to a theater outing or rent one to watch at home?

• Going to the movies is a social event, especially when we watch with friends and discuss the film afterward.
• Films spark our imagination.
• Movies stimulate our thinking; they take us to other parts of the world and into unusual settings.
• Watching foreign films in their original language forces us to concentrate on vocabulary.  If you study a foreign language, this will help connect words and images, phrases and scenarios.
• Many films keep us up to date and help us converse with our grandchildren.
• It’s fun to watch good movies!

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!

There is a new breed of millionaires – and there will soon be a lot more of these millionaires.  Will you become one of them?

These are not cash-rich people.  They are time rich, those who live a million hours.  This means that they are living 114 or more years.

Today there are about 300,000 people who are validated to be at least 100 years old, and by mid century this number is estimated to grow to about 3.4 million.  There are 75 supercentenarians, meaning that they are 110 years old or more, living in the world today.  Their documents leave no doubt that they are indeed the age they are said to be.

The longest documented life is that of Jeanne Calment of France (1875–1997), who died at age 122 years and 164 days. Kama Chinen, born May 10, 1895 in Okinawa, Japan, is now the oldest living person in the world.

As we continue to live longer it will become even more important to age healthfully with Age Esteem

Easter offers an enjoyable opportunity for inter-generational fun.  Why not gather the grandchildren or neighbors for an egg painting party?  Even a two year old can dye and color eggs.  All ages can participate – toddlers, teens, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents.   You may begin an annual tradition!

• Make baskets to offer to friends.  The baskets that berries and fruit or potatoes come in can be decorated with ribbon and grass and filled with eggs.
• Decorate a branch or small tree with eggs.
• Organize an Easter egg hunt in a yard or the neighborhood park.
• Run races where each person must run with an egg in a spoon.
• Have an egg roll, where you are on all fours and push the egg with your nose.

Most important is to enjoy!  This is a wonderful way to share your age-esteem.

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.

World Day for Water – March 22

Our daily lives depend on and are shaped by water. Without the water that surrounds us – the humidity of the air, water from rushing rivers and the kitchen tap – our lives would be impossible.  Eighty percent of our bodies are formed of water, and two thirds of the planet’s surface is covered by water.   Water is our life.

Water is a basic nutrient that is also important for our age-esteem.  It is basic to our level of energy.   Healthy levels of hydration in our body influence how we feel about ourselves.  It is recommended that we drink 1.6 liters or quarts of water per day to maintain healthy levels of hydration, something that is not easy in many parts of the world.

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.

The theme for this year’s  international day, held on March 21, is Empowering Youth to Fight Racism.

A key to eliminating our own discrimination is to feel good about ourselves.  We need to feel secure and confident in ourselves as we are today in order to accept others who are different due to race, religion, culture, age, gender…  AgeEsteem is a key factor to accepting others for who they are and respecting differences.    To empower youth is also to instill age-esteem in their lives.