Spring Showers Can Boost Your Age Esteem

It’s raining !

Spring brings rain where I live in Europe. Lots of rain.

Sitting here on the bus I hear others complaining that “enough is enough”. It has rained for five consecutive days.

I love walking in the rain. As a child I used to beg my mother to let me go outside and stomp through the puddles. Sister Susie and I would take a couple pans from the kitchen, so we could concoct a witches’ brew with wet leaves, flower petals and some wiggly worms. We hated it when Mom called us inside.

Even today I love walking in the rain. Stomping in puddles with my grandchildren is still a favorite experience. Rain is refreshing and renewing. It seems to wash away worries, leaving room for new ideas and expression.

These feelings of renewal and playfulness are important to our age-esteem. They help us live the age we are with joy and pizzazz. In AgeEsteem: Growing a Positive Attitude Toward Aging, chapter 2, page 16, tells the story of breaking loose from our programed behavior and to begin Singing in the Rain to free the child within you.

When we let the child within us come out to play, we use all of our senses. It frees us to raise our faces to the sky to feel the raindrops, and even taste them. We smell the newness of nature, listen to the sound of the rain on different surfaces, watch drops seemingly bounce on the sidewalk, and laugh with pure joy as we also renew and revitalize our age-esteem.

Bonnie Fatio

Why?

Why is it that we are taught to think

That growing old is past the brink,

And that the rest is all down hill

Without a means to prove one’s will?

Age Esteem will return your pride

And put a ZIP into your stride

So each day try to do your best:

Aim for esteem, pizzazz and zest!

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem®

Celebrate Love!

What an ideal time to celebrate love! – Valentine’s Day.

Love is at the basis of all that is good.  It is the foundation of peace and understanding.  It is the fuel of making this world a better place for each of us.

Love is the force that gives Age Esteem its pizzazz.

We all strive to love and be loved at every age.  The need for love is a continuum through life.  Love may take on different dimensions as we experience different stages of life, but it remains a constant.

As we look towards this day of love, Valentine’s Day, let’s celebrate love. – Love of self, love of family, love of friends, love of those who we do not yet know and yes, even love for our enemies.

• Allow your heart to overflow with thoughts of love.
• Look for indications of love around you.
• Remember the precious moments in your life when you have had so much love in your heart that it bubbled over.

Celebrate love!

Bonnie Fatio

Do you say “Thank you”?  Of course you do.  You say it multiple times a day.  But do you say it mechanically without any real thought or feeling or do you say it with enthusiasm and a special lilt or timbre to your voice?

Thank you isn’t enough.  Part of being thankful – and we AgeEsteemers know it is important to our well-being – is to acknowledge what we are thankful for.    So why not try the following.

• The next time you say “Thank you” add what you are thanking the person for.  It might be “Thank you for making it fun to shop here, for your cheery smile, for letting me know you like my singing, for opening the door…
• When you say “Thank you” make eye contact with the person you are thanking and smile. 
• Put some spice and rythym into your voice.  Sing the words.  Add that spark of pizzazz!

Wear clothes, make-up and hair styles that make you feel good. – That give you some pizzazz!

• What colors and styles of clothes make you feel smart and attractive when you step out?  These are the ones to wear.  Forget the latest fashion or color if it doesn’t fit.   Modernize with an accessory in the latest color.
• Play around with your hair and make-up until you find a style that fits you.  Get professional help from the artists at the cosmetic counters and salons or test color shampoos and try different looks with your own make-up.

Your goal is to feel attractive and in harmony with who you are.  You’ll know what feels right.  Emphasize your qualities.