12/29/2025
“I’ll Take Centurions for 100 Alex”
Recently Dick Van D**e celebrated 100 years of walking the earth, devoting many of those years to entertaining people across the world. While many celebrate his longevity and a life well lived, we can’t help but ask, “how does he do it?” Van D**e is truly defying the odds not only by his number of birthdays, but his ability to actually live life as he surpasses ten decades. He makes up an elite segment of Americans, with only 2.4 in 10,000 who will reach this milestone. For context, you are 6 times more likely to make a hole in one or bowling a perfect game, neither are impossible, but quite improbable. If he decided to throw a party for his circa 1925 peers, he could fill most of the seats i The Horseshoe (O-H!) with the roughly 100,000 centurions across the US. Advancements in technology, AI and medicine will likely increase this number to 400,000 by 2054, putting living to 100 on “par” with making a hole-in-one (sorry, I couldn’t resist). The internet is full of healthy living tips ranging to Keto to Ruck Sacking, but let’s review what centurions actually say contributed to their longevity and how those tips conflict with our typical American life style.
When centurions are asked how they lived to 100, their answers rarely resemble the health advice dominating today’s internet. They don’t credit superfoods, supplements, or extreme fitness routines and no, Keto is not mentioned. Instead, their wisdom is strikingly simple—and often at odds with modern American life.
Across cultures and decades, centurions consistently describe eating modest, uncomplicated meals. Their diets center on vegetables, beans, whole grains, and fruit. Meat is occasional, portions are small, and meals are eaten slowly—often with others. This contrasts sharply with the American diet, where ultra-processed foods, oversized portions, and distracted eating have become the norm.
Movement is another defining difference. Centurions rarely “work out,” yet they move throughout the day. Walking, gardening, household tasks, and errands on foot keep them active without intention or intensity. No Ruck Sack required! In contrast, many Americans spend most of the day sitting, hoping a short burst of exercise can undo hours of inactivity.
Stress—or rather, how it’s handled—may be the biggest divider. Centurions certainly experienced hardship, but they tend to describe a calmer relationship with life. They accept what they cannot control, maintain daily rituals like prayer or time outdoors, and move at a slower pace. I’m guessing the number of Centurions with Facebook and Instagram accounts is pretty small. Modern American life, by comparison, is defined by urgency: constant notifications, relentless news cycles, and the quiet belief that productivity equals worth.
Equally important is connection. Centurions remain embedded in families and communities. They feel needed—often contributing well into old age through caregiving, service, or mentorship. Said another way, like Van D**e, they continue to live with purpose. Meanwhile, Americans are increasingly isolated, particularly as they age. Retirement often signals disengagement rather than purpose, despite loneliness being one of the strongest predictors of early mortality.
Sleep rounds out the pattern. Centurions keep regular schedules, respect rest, and avoid late-night stimulation. Americans routinely sacrifice sleep to screens, schedules, and stress.
The lesson is not that living to 100 requires perfection, but that longevity follows alignment. Centurions live in rhythm with how humans were designed to live—connected, active, rested, and purposeful.
As we celebrate Dick Van D**e reaching 100 with vitality and joy, perhaps the better question isn’t how he beat the odds—but what we’ve normalized that works against us. Centurions don’t chase longevity. They live well. Longevity follows.
