Don Adams, 78, USA

Age esteem is both for yourself inwardly and outwardly.  It is two different things.  One is esteem for yourself and the other is to encourage other senior folks to have high esteem for themselves.

One of my biggest concerns with aging is to not forget things. – To have the capacity to keep all the things going that I have a need to keep going for myself and my family.  I have the concern about being able to do that. – All the myriad of things that one does on a day to day basis.  If you lose track of some, the impact of not getting those things done, especially if you are the only person aware of the need to do it, may have an impact on family and friends.

One of my big concerns is to try to insure that I do whatever I can do day by day to contribute to the future life for my wife, Lynne, so if something were to happen to me she can have some reasonable life and not have a life of being in poverty.

Don’s Tips: Try to expand your sense of humor, not taking yourself too seriously.  Constantly evaluate and reevaluate all the things you have had that were important to you and things that you felt that you had to do and other people had to do to test those against reality.  Determine is this really true or do you need to rethink or re-evaluate?  Open up your thoughts, which I think is very important.  It’s not just thoughts; it’s all aspects of your life – not getting in ruts, not being willing to look outside the things you have been holding dear or sacred.

My advice to myself would have been to not have a double bypass operation.  I should have exercised more and watched my habits in eating, etc.   I would recommend that to other people. Unfortunately for some like with me this has taken place over my whole life time, so what is in my arteries is in my arteries.  Develop the skill and ability to communicate to people.  If you find me giving advice understand that if you chose not to take it that it’s ok.  You can do something with it or not do something with it.

You have to keep expanding your circle in all areas of your life whether it’s with people, skills, or whatever.  Keep trying to expand and not just live within what is familiar and what has been part of your life.  Do not say this is wonderful; it cannot be improved upon.  Expand in all areas.

Don Adams and his family have lived in Belgium and England as well as the USA.

Bonnie Fatio