Three Reasons You Should Try to Live to 100

I suspect you didn’t get up this morning thinking about how exciting it would be to live to 100.  A thought like that may be way down the list of important things that will drive your day.   In fact, I’m guessing that the very thought created a visual in your mind that was, well –  repulsive?

I’ve tested this idea of living to 100 on nearly all my friends, on all of my immediate and most of my extended family – even built and presented a 20-minute speech around it at my Toastmasters club.

The reaction has been universal –  gag me with a spoon!!!  Gary has slipped a gear – again!

Although largely disowned by family and muzzled at dinner parties, I remain undeterred.  I’ve decided to live to 100, have gone public with it and will continue to beat that drum with anyone who is willing to listen.

This isn’t some hair-brained thought.  If genetics ruled – which they don’t –the average life spans of previous generations in my family would say that I should have been gone some time ago.  But genetics, for the most part, don’t determine our lifespan.  But lifestyle habits do.  So I figured if I know what those lifestyle habits are, and if I get serious about them, then surely I could beat the odds and get to 100 or beyond – even if I started late, which I did.

I’m a proud septuagenarian (for you Pittsburgh Steeler fans, that means I’m in my seventies) and feeling better physically, emotionally and spiritually than any other time of my life.  Turns out those lifestyle habits are pretty simple – not to be confused with easy.  I’m trying to get better at them every day.

I also wrestle with something deep inside that keeps  whispering “you ain’t done yet so get off the average lifespan mantra and do something significant with the time that is left, whatever that may be.”

Here are my three thoughts on why we should try to live to 100:

Reason #1 – We  Can.   As I mentioned in my last blog post, we know the human body can last 122 years, 164 days because Mlle Jeanne Calment of Paris did it – confirmed.   There were 50,454 U.S. centenarians in the year 2000, according to the U.S. Census.  It’s predicted that this number will grow to over 600,000 by mid-century.  Centenarians are the fastest growing age group, percentage-wise, in our country and globally.

So, who’s to say you can’t?  I know, like most, you’ve got a mental list the length of your arm of why YOU can’t or don’t want to.  I get it – it’s where our mind goes on this topic.

Reason #2 – We Must.  Us boomers and pre-boomers need to be thumbing our nose at the youth movement in business and politics.  And at the myths of automatic senescence in later years.  What better way to prove to the world that we never lost what we have to offer from our life experiences, mistakes, victories, disappointments, and triumphs.

An African proverb says:   “When an old man dies, a library burns to the ground,”

We have much to teach about life but we have to stay alive and fight for the venues through which our wisdom and still-present value can be shared.

Reason #3 – We Just Might.   Hey, life doesn’t come with any promises.  Lightning does strike; diseases and accidents happen; genetics come into play on a limited scale.  Frankly, you have less than a 5% chance you will make it to 100.  But if you thought you could, do you think maybe some different decisions would show up in your life?

Do you think there might be an attitude shift?

Do you think you might rethink and reject the myths that you’ve bought into about aging?

Do you think that if you only made it to 92 or 95 or 98 but more fulfilled, impactful and having left a legacy that the 100-year target made sense?

I read today about 88-year old retired Vail, CO orthodontist, Dr. Fred Distelhorst, who recently scaled Kilimanjaro with his granddaughter.  He is the oldest person on record to have climbed the 19,361 free-standing mountain.   His comment?  “It wasn’t such a big deal.  I was surprised it wasn’t harder.”  Dr. Fred also bikes regularly and still skis 100 days a year.  I like his chances of getting to 100 – or more.

We’re taught to fear aging

For a while, I was baffled by the near-universal negative reaction I got to the idea of living to 100.  But I understand – it’s a scary thought because of our conditioning.

Here’s a YouTube video that, in one minute, says it better than my pontification.  Watch this and see which situation your thoughts go to – the person on the left or the one on the right.  If you relate to the one on the left, come join the conversation.  We have a good but tough message to convey.

What are your thoughts on the idea of striving to live to 100?  Leave a comment below.