For a lot of Americans, retirement can’t come soon enough. But many people also wonder what they’ll do when their days are wide open, which is why so many retirees take up hobbies like golf or knitting or decide to volunteer. However, JoCleta Wilson, a now-100-year-old woman who lives in Louisville, Kentucky, found that getting back to work made her feel her best.
“I retired three different times — 10 years each time in retirement, and it is not what it’s cracked up to be. I got so tired of myself,” she told TODAY.com. “I had to get out of the house and come back to work and see what was going on in society.”
Wilson is now the oldest Home Depot employee in the U.S., a role she says is “a lot of fun.” But besides her retail job, she recently shared some other secrets about her longevity.
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1. Socialize
Part of the reason Wilson took her job at Home Depot at age 98 was for socialization.
“I want to communicate with people,” she told Wave 3 News. “If you are not working, you lose your art of conversing.”
In fact, when she turned 100 last October, she had an 80-guest birthday party at her home, complete with two piano players, according to the New York Post. Home Depot threw her a birthday bash, too.
She now works two mornings a week at the store from 6 to 10 a.m.
2. Dance
Wilson is a lifelong dancer, having traveled the world as a rhythm tap dancer with the June Taylor Dancers, perhaps best known for their appearances on The Jackie Gleason Show.
According to Today.com, she later owned the Louisville Dance Academy for 37 years. And she hasn’t stopped dancing yet.
“I have the radio everywhere. Thank goodness for Alexa. I tell her to play something that’s really good to jump to, and I have at it,” she shared with Today.com. “I let go and move and do what I want to do and it feels good. That’s my exercise.”
Her dance training also taught her the importance of good posture, which she often tests by standing flat against a wall. “And if I’m slouching, I correct it,” she noted to Wave 3.
3. Be creative
Dance isn’t Wilson’s only creative pursuit. At age 90, she bought a piano and has been teaching herself how to play. A few years later, she took to the stage to perform at a local theater.
As Wave 3 reports, she also wrote a cookbook titled Make Them Think You Can Cook, which included recipes collected during her world travels and at supper clubs. A portion of the proceeds from the book went to Special Olympics Kentucky, a cause close to her because she had two children with special needs, one of whom passed away.
Plus, she has an Instagram account on which she sells her oil paintings. A portion of these proceeds goes to the Special Olympics as well.
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4. Eat (mostly) healthy
Wilson’s life hasn’t been without health problems. “I’ve had cancer three times,” she shared with Wave 3. “COPD, Emphysema, and I have a pacemaker.”
For these reasons, she tries to eat as healthily as possible. One way she does this is by limiting her intake of sugar. She admits this takes a good deal of self-control, but she also treats herself now and then.
“I always have a chocolate cake in my freezer,” she told Today.com. “I take a slice but maybe once a week.” She’ll have a spoonful of ice cream here and there, too.
Wilson was also diagnosed with high cholesterol in the past, so she cut out bacon and cheese and worked with a nutritionist who recommended avoiding white flour and focusing on lean protein like chicken and fish.
“I eat well. I don’t eat out a lot. I do my own cooking and enjoy it,” she added to Today.com.
5. “Dont sweat the small stuff”
Despite referencing her “stubbornness and determination,” perhaps Wilson’s biggest piece of advice is “don’t sweat the small stuff,” a philosophy she adopted when she was dealing with her health issues.
“I always say, don’t sweat the small stuff. Don’t worry. Don’t let everything make you angry. Anger takes a lot of muscle and a lot of good out of your life,” she shared with Today.com. “It’s so much easier to think positive than to think negative. It takes a lot less effort. And that’s what I try to do.”
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