“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou.

This quote is a great guide for each of us as we embrace this New Year 2018.

How have you made other people feel in 2017? What can you begin to do differently to inspire and empower others in 2018?

This is a valid question whether you are 12 or 92, whether you are mobile or confined to a bed, whether you are rich or poor. No matter who you are and what your physical condition, you are a role model for others. You have the power to make others remember you fondly and feel better for having known you.

Think for a moment about the people who have positively influenced your own life. What did they do to influence you?

Several former students of Shirley E. Pollock have said that she made them feel important, where others ignored them. What did she do? She showed genuine interest in them as individuals, with no judgment. She listened and reacted to what they said with further questions and interest, showing emotion that corresponded to what they said.

It can be as easy as that. What matters most is your frame of mind, your attitude. Here are a few thoughts.

• Ask questions about what interests the other person.
• Listen actively to her answers and ask further questions.
• Forgive, and ask for forgiveness from those you have hurt.
• Catch others doing something well and praise them.
• Phone or write to someone to let her know you are thinking about her, and why.

People will never forget how you make them feel.

Bonnie Fatio

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

This Is A Wonderful Day

This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.

Maya Angelou

Use this thought as you greet each new day to boost your age esteem. This IS a wonderful day. You have never seen this one before, nor will you see it again. Enjoy it to the fullest!

Bonnie Fatio

Aging Today

Do we sit back with complacency and let others decide what we should be like as we age?

I believe we do. That is why reference to aging most often refers to being a burden on society, illness, loss of mobility, loss of memory, and dependency.

To be a senior, mature, and an elder is rather something to be proud of. It indicates we have lived and experienced years of lessons from living. We are wise and capable of even greater contributions to the world because of these years of living.

Proof of this is easy to find. Look at former leaders like Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, and Mary Robinson; or actors like Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford and Judi Dench; or Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton…

Today we are proving that there is indeed life after 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and even 100! We are still running marathons, teaching, producing films, inventing, composing, leading, raising grandchildren, and making significant contributions in all areas of society.

It is time for us to stand in our own significance to speak out for what older people truly represent for society.

Bonnie Fatio