What's new?  Pickleball and writing, that's what

The quickest way to meet my ultimate destination is to sit back, relax in my rocking chair, and keep doing the things I've always done.  I know how to do them; there are no surprises; there are no challenges.  If that's true, then how does one keep growing?  Does it mean that, just because I'm getting older, I should stop growing?  I should stop trying new skills, new methods of working, new ways of thinking?

Growing is something children do.  They are on a fast track in changing physically, mentally, psychologically.  Every year brings about an adjustment, a major change from the year before.  The speed of that change moderates as a person matures.  An older person, of course, continues to change as well.  The stereotype is that change comes in the slowing-down, the moderating even more, of physical, mental, and psychological growth.  Some people might even contend that the change is moving backwards; that growth stops and the older person is going "downhill".

I refuse to see myself in that light.  I must push against the temptation to acquiesce, to give in, to say "I'm getting too old for this".  Thus, my first lesson in pickleball is coming this Friday night. 

At the YMCA, I have an exercise program.  Every other day, I pull on my exercise duds, drive about a mile or two to downtown, cross a busy street from the parking lot, enter the building, and climb the stairs to the track.  Walking 17 times around gives a mile's worth of cardio.  My usual is one and a half miles which is a full half-hour.  Another half-hour is working on both upper body and lower body strength by pushing, pulling, raising arms and legs on seven different machines in the Power Room.

On in-between days, I just walk the track.  That's when I notice this past Friday two individuals on the gym floor below.  The man seems to be instructing the woman on how to play pickleball -- at least, that's what I finally figure out.  On different days, I've seen and heard 12 to 16 people, maybe fewer, smacking a ball back and forth across their net, similar to badminton only the ball is heavier (no birdie) and the net is lower.  It always looks like fun -- lots of chatting, laughing back and forth.

As I watch this lesson below, my thought is, "I can do this.  No problems in the past with my physical coordination.  Not as sure about my stamina but many of the people playing are older.  So what do I have to lose?  I'll stop by this week, meet the instructor, and schedule a lesson for Friday." (I'll keep you posted.)

Keeping up/excelling physically is one type of growth.  Another has to do with using one's mind.  In my case, that's writing.  I write every morning in a journal.  I write stories and share them with my small writing group as well as on my blog.  I write family stories for Christmas gifts.  Letters from Bulgaria while a Peace Corps volunteer, self-help articles on career redirection, reflective stories based on my own experiences have all been published in newspapers in Florida and Montana.  So I think I know what I'm doing when volunteering to write an article for MSUB's The Retort, the newspaper for MT State University Billings.  The editor is a fellow student in our Writing Workshop class.

I'm currently on my sixth draft.  This is after I interview four nontraditional students to find out what qualifies them to be nontraditional, what motivates them, how they juggle responsibilities, and what they recommend for others.  The tapes are transcribed and compiled into an outline.  From there, my first two drafts are completed.

"Is it alright if I edit your article?" asks the editor.  I'm on my way out the door after taking him the photo that will accompany my article.

"Of course," I say.

"I may have to edit a whole section."

"Sure, do whatever you have to do."  For the rest of the afternoon, I keep repeating to myself, "a whole section"  A whole section?  A whole SECTION?"

By chance, I have a scheduled lunch with another fellow classmate the next day.  She is an experienced writer -- 20+ years with the Billings Gazette.  She identifies the specific format that is used by newspaper writers.  Amazing.  Never knew this.  Never noted it in my newspaper reading.

By email to the editor, I request the opportunity to learn this craft by reworking my draft.  Six hours on Friday brings about several more drafts, a more sexy title that includes "success strategies".  Each of the three strategies is identified and combined with the student story that best illustrates it.  These students are hard-working nontraditional students (one of which is my editor) -- they use all three strategies (network/volunteer while still in school; follow your passion; and never, ever give up -- it'll be hard but worth it).  Today, I'll look over the article and decide if it needs more fine-tuning.

Learning a new skill, whether physical or mental, can be a humbling experience.  However, it's an opportunity of which I want to take advantage.  Learning isn't for youth any more.  It can happen throughout one's life; it can give meaning to life; and it can help one grow -- at any age.