I remember my mother making my favourite nine day pickles in a 5 gallon crock. Why nine days, I have no idea but it must have been that aging process that made them so good. We should look on Pickleball and the aging process in the same positive way.
 
Pickleball is a game for all ages and yes there are some advantages of getting older in this game.
 
As we get older, our memories become so bad we can’t remember the score in the game we are playing, let alone the score of the previous game, or the last time we played. This is one of the great things about getting old, you mind just naturally allows you to forget the things you don’t want to remember.
 
Another good thing about getting old is that you develop selective hearing. Your brain only registers the things you want to hear. You can pretend that you didn’t hear the person call the ball out and therefore just take the point and if they forget the score, you can get away with it. You can selectively hear the score if you want as well. If the opponents make a mistake in your favour, you just accept the gift, however if the mistake is not in your favour, “boy are they going to hear about it.”
 
Selective vision is also a benefit of getting older. You can use this as an excuse to get away with any line call you want, especially if you know the opponents will probably not challenge. When you have just finished a long rally and you are running out of gas, you can always question a line call on the other side. Even if you don’t win the argument, your stalling achieved the desire time out. I know you are saying to yourself, “that’s cheating!” “Heck no, that’s just taking advantage of your age.”
 
As I filled in my government form to start collecting Old Age Security at the beginning of next year, I really felt depressed. Then I realized that if I live to be 90 and show up at a tournament, I may win gold just for showing up. Who says, “These aren’t the golden years.” The government will be paying me to play Pickleball, "how great is that!"

This is the beauty of Pickleball, it ages with you. In my case, I do not have to worry about losing my great ability to play the game, I never had it. What I can realize every time I walk on the court is how much I still enjoy playing regardless. The score doesn’t matter, I will never remember that, but my heart will thank me for the exercise I got.

As George Bernard Shaw wrote, “We do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. Never be the first to Get Old!”
 

 
Above all, "Relish the Pickle you are in!"