Centenarian: (n) a person who is a hundred years old

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this. Well, maybe not a lot.

But as each birthday comes along, I realize it’s a toss-up.

There’s a thrill in just being alive, but it is far exceeded by the thrill of being alive and productive.

When do we cease to be productive? Perhaps a definition is in order. To me, productive is: to achieve better purposes, I will need to learn how to do different things.

Once you stop having a desire to learn and you begin to settle for whatever is available and provided based upon your willingness, things kind of start going downhill.

The fun in life is being surprised–and rather than acting shocked, imitate invigorated.

There you go.

It doesn’t mean you actually are invigorated. It just means that acting shocked is a waste of time.

So as I thought about the word “centenarian”–a person who has reached a hundred years of age–I considered how marvelous it would be if you could do so, still pursuing a learning path, while being productive and invigorated.

But at any point along the way, if settling for something that is privately unsatisfying is the name of the game, then a lengthy life can end up being a curse.

Thank you for enjoying Words from Dic(tionary) —  J.R. Practix