Betty White celebrates her 100th birthday next month, and as friends, family, and fans look at her with awe, respect, and adoration — she’s sharing some important secrets to life with us. White is America’s Golden Girl, and not just for her time on the hit comedy sitcom. She’s our golden girl because of her kindness, her tenacity for life, and of course, her heart of gold.
White says she’s lucky to be in such excellent health at her age, telling People that she feels fantastic. So what exactly is her secret? Well, she’s got a couple, and one has to do with looking on the bright side. White says she was born a “cockeyed optimist.”
“I got it from my mom, and that never changed. I always find the positive,” White said.
Finding the positive can be difficult, especially when things seem out of your control. Still, White keeps that positivity — even through a global pandemic and whatever else the world throws at her. She’s got a 100th birthday to get to, and nothing is stopping her.
White is also sure her diet plays a role in her continuing great health. So, what does she eat to stay vibrant and feel amazing? Her advice defies expectation as only Betty White can: “I try to avoid anything green. I think it’s working.”
If White herself is telling us avoiding green is the key to longevity, maybe we can finally stop eating all those vegetables our parents promised would make us strong.
White’s optimism doesn’t just help her to live longer, it helps those around her to feel the same kind of happiness wonder that she does. Several of her co-stars have spoken out about their time with her and their comments are always heartwarming and full of joy.
Carol Burnett told People that White can roll with humor and twist things to make an already funny situation bring the audience to tears. “She’d come on my show, and if there was a tinge of risqué humor in one of our sketches, she’d roll with it and make it even funnier and add a little wink to show that she was thinking of something sexy,” Burnett said. “She’s not a stand-up. She’s not a jokester. It’s the way she can twist a line to get a laugh.”
Sandra Bullock, who acted alongside White in 2009’s The Proposal, praised the nonagenarian’s unmatched comedic timing in an interview with People, saying that White’s co-stars sit in awe of her work and just hope to be bettered by it. “Timing isn’t easy in comedy, because you have to navigate other people’s timing,” Bullock explained. “Betty pivots like I have never seen, making it look seamless. The rest of us just remain silent and pray we’re not cut out of the scene.”
Bullock went on to share some well wishes for White’s birthday next month, saying she hopes she celebrates, “the same way she has celebrated every day of her life with humor, kindness and a vodka on ice, toasting to the fact that she’s a badass who has left us all in the dust.”
Humor, kindness, and vodka on ice sound like a perfectly Betty White way to ring in 100. She has clearly experienced the most out of life and made sure to leave us all a little happier because of it. Betty White turns 100 on Jan. 17, 2022, and fans can celebrate along with her as she hosts a one-day movie special in select theaters, as we previously reported.