With every rotation we make of the Sun,
You're wiser by far and you're older by one.
You stand slightly taller with bigger sized shoes,
With more and more freedom to do as you choose.
Yet while this is nice it's just not the best part;
The thing about growing that warms up the heart.
What makes looking forward to every new year,
Are birthdays and all their spectacular flair.
There's no other day out of three sixty-five,
More fitting to rave about being alive.
Complete with the fanfare and special ado,
That's solely intended to celebrate you.
Then throw in the streamers and all the balloons,
And presents in paper with funny cartoons.
And topping it off there's a cake with your name,
Cementing its status and annual fame.
With all this considered and how great they are,
You'll want to max-out on your trips 'round our star.
A long healthy life should be part of your plan,
Ensuring you have all the birthdays you can.
And how can you do it? Well follow along;
Take all my advice and you just can't go wrong.
Applying each step coming up is a must,
For one hundred birthdays; A hundred or bust!
The first thing to do is avoid things that won't,
Assist in the goal if you do them, so don't.
For thirty-six thousand five hundred odd days,
Do all that you do in the safest of ways.
So don't play with fire or run in the street,
And always use sunscreen when out in the heat.
To find yourself eating that one hundredth cake,
Make safety a must in the choices you make.
Next, so you keep having birthdays this long,
You need to ensure that your body stays strong.
Make moving a part your daily routine,
To keep yourself fit and impressively lean.
Take lessons in dancing and mow your own lawn,
And leash up your dogs and take walks around dawn.
As long as you're limber you'll see many moons,
And bunches on bunches of colored balloons.
Up next on your hundred-year birthday advance,
You'll want a good diet of colorful plants.
With reds and with violets and all that's between,
Like eye-popping orange and all kinds of green.
Eat plenty grains just as long as they're whole,
And fill up on helpings of beans by the bowl.
Add eight or so glasses of water a day,
And plenty more birthdays are coming your way.
To make every party a notable fest,
It's best if you treasure and prize every guest.
A feat to achieve that completely depends,
On friendships with kin and on kinship with friends.
Through all of your joys and in moments of strife,
They'll walk by your side in this journey called life.
Providing support in the times that you share,
From milestone to milestone and year after year.
In order to make all these birthdays worthwhile,
You'll need that one something behind every smile.
A thing to believe in and for which to strive,
That gives you a purpose and fills you with drive.
It may be assisting whoever's in need,
Or scheming up poems that kids love to read.
Whatever it is find a reason to be,
To bring yourself joy through the decades you see.
By using these measures more precious than gold,
You'll make a good run at a century old.
With silvery hair and a smile-crinkled face,
That speaks to your wisdom and aura of grace.
But getting as far as a one hundredth year,
Is sadly not easy and really quite rare.
Despite making every last effort you can,
Life rarely works out as per anyone's plan.
Regardless of this, if you make it or not,
Give life nothing less than the best that you've got.
So much you find joy and have great peace of mind,
In all that you did and at last leave behind.
And then it might happen that after you're gone,
Your story won't fade but instead linger on.
For many odd years, surely dozens I trust.
Or maybe one hundred; A hundred or bust!
-End-
