Pickleball, a Fountain of Youth?
One thing that I have turned to is reading news in bed if I wake before the sun. In the past 2-3 years my body has been playing tricks on me, being unpredictable and that includes waking way too early to start the day. If I read the news long enough, I tend to fall back asleep, better than worrying about what might go wrong in my grown kids’ lives…
This morning there was one article in the Wall Street Journal that didn’t lull me back to sleep, rather it inspired this blog post. The title was “The Age When You Stop Feeling Young.” According to the Worldwide Independent Network of Market Research, the average American stops feeling young in their early 40s and starts feeling old at 52. 52 is a short 2 months away for me and I feel far from old!
In the US we tend to be dichotomous in the way we think; a fancy word meaning all or nothing thinking, dividing into only 2 parts. This kind of thinking is a major factor to developing anxiety symptoms. The research in the WSJ is a great example of all or nothing thinking about life: you feel either young or old, implying that young is the better life stage. Really, what does feeling “old” even mean? I think we can all agree that 52 is middle age. According to World data info the average American female lives to age 79.3 years while in parts of Europe woman live on average to 85 years. So based on statistics let’s say the middle is anywhere from ages 40-70, depending on genetics, where you live etc.
In the US we seem to struggle to describe what that feels like to be in midlife when physical changes are happening, like in any life stage some changes feel good and some do not. We live in a world that is marketed to youth and finding ways to avoid aging. Part of me finds that funny because I love the smarts and confidence that comes with age, but at the same time my medicine cabinet is full of anti-aging creams and I meet birthdays with mixed emotions. I believe that mindset and purpose is key to a happy life, so I looked deeper into the psychology of aging searching for a different lens than young versus old.
After reading varying articles, I was most interested in the research and writing of Dr. Gene Cohen, a renown psychiatrist who studied aging, development and the brain. Dr. Cohen wrote about different phases of growing old in positive and powerful ways and describes the aging process as driven by “inner pushes” that create new life opportunities and positive changes in all the decades of living. These changes he describes can lead to increased happiness and are built on the foundation of wisdom and creativity that we gain as we age. Dr. Cohen writes about getting older from a strength’s point of view. What a shift in culture it would be if entering your 40s and 50s is something that you looked forward to in your 20s and 30s, like teenagers do to turning 16 or 21!
So, as I researched and read at 3:30am, instead of feeling old in my sleeplessness, I thought of my new “inner push” towards pickleball and smiled. This sport is helping me in my smart and creative stage of midlife. Pickleball is a protective factor in so many people’s lives serving as a chance to play, grow, and engage physically and mentally. When I am at the pickleball courts, I see all ages, shapes and levels of play being active, laughing, competing, socializing. Pickleball is a place where you can show up on your own and play, like the basketball or baseball pickup games when I was 10. If you are struggling with loneliness (a key factor to depression and feeling unwell and maybe even “old”) grab a paddle and head to the local pickleball courts for connection, movement and fun; a powerful anti-old remedy.
I think of the pickleball culture, especially at local levels, as one that embraces age and fosters growth. I wonder if the Research Group in the WSJ article did the same study “at what age do you feel old” with participants who regularly played pickleball if the result would be different; bet it would!
Here’s a thought to carry into your day: If 50 is the new 30, and sitting is the new smoking, what is pickleball? Perhaps the new fountain of youth?
See these links below; what I read and learned:
The Mature Mind: The positive power of the Aging Brain by Gene D. Cohen, M.D. Ph.D
https://www.wsj.com/articles/millennials-turning-40-feeling-old-1df2c83b
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4286887/
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-01343-000
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/population-estimates-characteristics.html
Sam
Amazing article!!