Do you want to live to be 100?

I don’t.

Unless you guarantee me I’ll have a sound mind and enough physical independence to live on my own, and even then I might be too tired to keep on keeping on, if you know what I mean.

But what if you want to be a centenarian? You probably think you know what you’d have to do. Eat right. Cut out sugar and meats. Becoming a vegetarian would help. Exercise. Don’t smoke. Don’t drink. Your genetics helps, too. You’d think that all these things should give you your best shot at getting that once in a lifetime birthday letter signed by the president of the United States.

Think again. According to the latest research and case studies of people who are healthy and past 80 years old, you might be surprised at the most important reason to live a long life. No, it’s not being religious. A good marriage helps, but lots of anniversaries are not enough.

Eric Barker of Time magazine says if you want to see 100, start today by saying hello to the mailman. Then talk to the lady at the produce aisle in the grocery store. Join a bowling team. Cook dinner on the weekends for a group of your friends.

Social interaction with people you like and even with strangers is the key to a long life. Loneliness can kill you. Facebooking and texting don’t count and will not help multiple your birthdays.

Other interesting activities benefit, too. Moderate drinkers live longer than those who don’t raise a glass. Alcohol thins the blood and when consumed in social situations, your spirits are lifted by the booze and by your friends for a double good whammy.

The road to 100 won’t be easy. You might have to survive a heart attack or two. In that case, you’d better get a dog if you don’t have one already. Apparently, people with pooches survive coronary thrombosis at a higher percentage rate. Now cats might have nine lives, but no studies suggest they’ll help you survive the only life you get.

You like to work overtime? Count your money, but not your blessings. You probably won’t see the century mark and you’ll carry regret to your deathbed because you sacrificed too much time chasing the buck.

You have to laugh a lot when you’re happy and hold a guilty conscience when you do somebody wrong. When somebody does you wrong, getting revenge subtracts days off your time clock, but offering forgiveness adds more flips of your yearly calendars.

Those who dread getting old just might be rewarded by a youthful demise while a positive attitude toward aging can help you live more senior years.

Sleeping naked slows aging because the body is cooler and that repairs damaged hormones. Not going to bed angry improves sleep too so when your significant other screams at you to put your jammies back on, don’t argue. Turn the other cheek.

Living on top of a mountain increases your life span more than putting down roots in the valley. Something about higher altitudes is good for your body, but not so good if you’re prone to nosebleeds.

Afternoon nappers live longer than all-nighters. A spiritual person with peace of mind out lives someone whose mind falls to pieces.

Surprisingly, if you think about death, you’re likely to live longer than those who don’t. With mortality in mind, you tend to make better decisions about your health as you graduate into your golden years.

One study calculated that fathers who have daughters can add 74 weeks to their longevity, but in general our ladies, especially those who are mothers, outlive men by as much as ten years. Guys, we had better begin our bucket list now!

Work 60 hour weeks and you might die younger, but if you can pad your wallet with several million, you have a decent shot at having a heck of a catered three-digit birthday party. The 1 percent who are ultra wealthy live longer. They can afford the best in health care and nutrition and silver spooners hold much less stress than those of us who line up at the ATM hoping there’s enough lunch money left in our accounts.

Oh, if you want to move to the state that has the largest number of residents over the age of 65, don’t go to Florida. Move to North Dakota. Now I’m wondering. Does anyone ever move to North Dakota?

Roz Doyle, a fictional character from the TV show “Frasier” said, “When I die, I want it to be on my 100th birthday in my beach house in Maui and I want my husband to be so upset that he has to drop out of college.”

Comedian George Burns once said, “If you live to be 100, you’ve got it made. Very few people die past that age.”

You might choose not to believe any of the research provided in this column, but what Burns said is completely credible. He “got it made” and lived nearly two months past his 100th birthday, despite smoking 10 cigars and drinking his fair share of martinis every day.

Rich Strack can be reached at katehep11@gmail.com.