100 Days, 100 Years

I recently saw that Monday, April 10, is the 100th day of 2023. It reminded me of the picture my sister sent me of my niece on her 100th day of school celebration earlier this year.

Do you remember how elementary schools celebrate the 100th day of school every year? My niece celebrated by dressing up as an old lady… she had the best time pretending to be crotchety and using a cane. She’s a sassy little sassafras, so it was pretty funny.

I wondered what all the hubbub was about, so I looked it up. 100th-day celebrations honor everything kids have accomplished so far that school year, which is a pretty great way to self-assess where you’re at and how far you’ve come. When I look at my first 100 days of 2023, I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve done:

I’ve attended 2 classes in a new area of interest (and it’s the first “school” I’ve done in probably 20 years!)
I sent my oldest child halfway around the world for school, and watched them learn new adulting skills
My husband and I also got to visit them and go on an amazing Belgian chocolate and beer food tour in Brussels!
I have been consistently walking 5 days a week
I added doing PACE to my daily schedule and have enjoyed taking that 3-minute break
I wrote 6 blog articles and 3 newsletters
I read 12 books

Many classrooms start a countdown to 100th-day celebrations on the first day of school to help younger kids appreciate just how big the number 100 is. Kids often wear crowns, make crafts with 100 items, or write what they’ll be doing when they are 100 years old. One cute idea I saw was kids creating bucket lists of things they want to do before they’re 100.

(Be in charge 😂)

Which is still a valid question for those of us who are maybe just slightly out of elementary school. What do you want to do before you’re 100? I have loads I haven’t crossed off my bucket list:

spend a night at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon
dance at my kids’ wedding
go on an African safari
eat sushi in Japan
hold a grandchild….

But I need to be active for another 50 years. Is that realistic?

Yes! According to this email I got from Axios, many people are living (and thriving) into 3 digits. And the amount of folks doing that keeps growing. Thanks to increased life expectancies, the number of centenarians in the world could increase eightfold by 2050. Which begs the question: how do I stay active and enjoy those years so I can complete my bucket list? I may have the lifespan, but how do I have the healthspan?

Turns out it’s all the things we talk about: