ELAINE SIHERA (Ms CYPRAH - http://www.elainesden.org) is a British writer, media contributor, internet agony aunt and columnist (http://ask-elaine.blogspot.com). Current motto: Sixty, Sexy, Savvy and Soaring!

The first Black graduate of the Open University and a post-graduate of Cambridge University, Elaine is a consultant for Emotional Health (confidence, self-esteem, relationships) and Diversity Management. Elaine is the author of: 10 Easy Steps to Growing Older Disgracefully; 10 Easy Steps to Finding Your Ideal Soulmate!; Money, Sex & Compromise and Managing the Diversity Maze, among others (http://www.amazon.co.uk). She's also the founder of the British Diversity Awards and the Windrush Achievement Awards and a pioneer lecturer on Diversity Matters to MPs in the House of Commons.

Never short of an opinion, and a vociferous campaigner for justice and fair play, Elaine has participated in many media discussion programmes in the UK, in print, on radio and on TV.

My passion is ...

writing, empowering and growing older disgracefully!

I know too much about ...

ageing in the best way possible, enjoying life and loving passionately

My parents always told me ...

Courtesy costs nothing. Give generously! and: Show me your company and I'll tell you who you are!

My childhood ambition ...

to be a doctor or nurse (I became a nurse, didn't like it because of the racism and left)

My favorite memory ...

My last conversation, sitting on the bottom step of the stairs, with my daughter before she left home for good. My son telling me, with a huge grin, that the first woman he wanted to go into his new posh car was me! Awesome.

Why I write ...

To empower others, to express the many thoughts I have, to give a voice to many people like myself and simply because I love it.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Reading 50 Psychology Classics by Tom Butler-Bowdon; Listening to Simply the Best by Tina Turner

My first job ...

Secretary to Jamaican singing great, Prince Buster, which introduced me to the cut throat and exploitative music scene but helped me to meet other greats like Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff.

My best moment ...

Giving awards to high achievers in the UK at my annual Windrush Achievement Awards ceremony. Enjoying solitude and my talent as another book is being created.

My inspiration ...

My Dear Mother, David Cameron, Barack Obama, Thomas Edison, Oprah Winfrey, Nelson Mandela, Eleanor Roosevelt, older achievers and women pioneers.

Style & Beauty > Style & Beauty (Other) To be a beautiful old woman: Tips for aging gracefully

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There is no secret to ageing gracefully, or disgracefully as I prefer to call it. Many younger people fear ageing, but there is nothing to fear about it. Just because someone else might have problems in old age, or look really bad for their age, does not mean that will automatically happen to you. Each of us is an individual, influenced mainly by our genes, by our surroundings and, importantly, by the way were brought up and the perceptions we have of our life. Genes apart, ageing depends entirely on how we approach it. Approach it in fear, and a fearful accident-prone life is all you would...

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