Tag: pickleball

Epic Pursuits Before and During Retirement

In a previous post I explored happiness and fulfillment in retirement drawing on the work of Bec Wilson, creator of the Epic Retirement Flagship Course and the author of the book, How to have an Epic Retirement.  In that post, I shared some of Bec’s suggestions concerning “Epic Pursuits” that could enable us to achieve an “engaged, curious and happy life”.  In her Workbook accompanying the course, she suggests that epic pursuits are “things you really enjoy doing, and that you want to deepen your knowledge of and get better at”- a source of joy, learning and contentment.  The Workbook helps us explore our achievements, passions, purpose, interests, and values as a basis for deciding what epic activities to pursue in retirement.

I retired as a Professor of Management in 2017 and ceased management consulting work in 2024, following the serious illness of my consulting colleague who was my co-facilitator for the previous 16 years – we had run hundreds of workshops together.  In reflecting on my own life story to date, I began to identify what epic pursuits I have undertaken both before and during my retirement:

  1. Research and writing
  2. Tennis and pickleball
  3. Social networking
  4. Travel overseas

Research and Writing

I have developed the art of writing over many years and followed the exhortation of one of my professors: “if you want to learn to write – write, write, write”.  So my writing has included theses, articles, book chapters, conference papers, blogs, e-books and training courses.   Hence my non-fiction writing has included the following:

  • Master’s research project and doctoral thesis (100,000 words) – doctorate awarded in 1996
  • Multiple published book chapters and articles on action earning and action research published in academic journals (one of my co-authored academic articles won an Award for Excellence from The Learning Organisation: An International Journal)
  • Co-author/editor of two books on action learning and action research
  • Chief editor and occasional author for a journal on action learning and action research
  • 4 blogs covering internet/social media marketing
  • Current blog, grow mindfulness.com, which has 791 posts, 977 moderated comments and a total word count in excess of 550,000 words
  • Created 15 poems incorporated in my mindfulness blog
  • Broad based articles published on Squidoo (over 100 before it was terminated), HubPages, ArticleDirectory.com and Wizzley.com, a writer’s community (also co-creator of this social media site with colleagues in Germany and the US)
  • Creator of a 6-month, online course on Social Media Marketing (comprising 24 PDFs)
  • Supervisor of Master’s and Doctoral students including recommended content and format edits; examiner of Doctoral thesis for 12 Universities, including 3 overseas (Britain, South Africa and New Zealand)
  • Developed short e-books on Affiliate Marketing and The Inner Game of Tennis.

Recently I also published an Amazon Kindle e-book, Writing for Wellness: A Pathway for Chronic Illness. 

My research and writing goals for my retirement are:
  • Complete 5 more Kindle e-books drawing on my Grow Mindfulness blog and my other publications
  • Research and write 2 X 1,000+ word articles per month for my Grow Mindfulness blog which covers topics such as mindfulness practices, chronic illness, leadership, management, health and happiness

Tennis and Pickleball

I have played tennis for more than 65 years but owing to a number of chronic conditions I have not participated in my weekly social tennis since February 2025.  Tennis was very much a part of my life since I was 9 years old.  I played at primary and secondary school, in the seminary in Melbourne, competitively at A grade and Pennant levels and socially after this.  Tennis gave me a sense of competence, motivation for maintaining my fitness and a source of relaxation.  I have written a poem about my gratitude for experiencing the joy of tennis.

However, I am currently experiencing the following chronic illnesses that impact my ability to play tennis (even socially at night):

  • arthritis in the middle finger of my right hand (I am right-handed)
  • osteopathy affecting my hips and other parts of my body
  • multi-level spinal degeneration (likely impacted by my MCAS chronic condition)
  • exercise asthma.

I decided to explore pickleball as an alternative to tennis and found that I am able to play this sport to an intermediate level.  I recently wrote about my joy in playing this game in a blog post and a poem titled, For the Love of Pickleball.  I have avoided competitive pickleball sessions and focused on social games to protect my fragile body. 

I am thoroughly enjoying the social aspects of pickleball and experimenting with new shots and ways to improve each time I play – a great source of learning! One clear advantage is that I can build on the skills and court craft I acquired through my many years of playing tennis – more than 10,000 sets of tennis.  I have played tennis on multiple surfaces – grass, concrete, bitumen, artificial grass, ant bed, clay and flexipave.  I have enjoyed playing social tennis locally as well as overseas in Auckland, Boroughbridge (Yorkshire, UK), Port Moresby and Lake Annecy (France).

My pickleball and exercise goals:
  • Continue to play social pickleball weekly
  • Undertake daily exercises provided by an exercise physiologist for my chronic conditions
  • Resume regular Tai Chi activity (both as a mindfulness practice and source of health benefits).

Social networking

I joined a social network for writers-with chronic-illness about two years ago.  The group, Creative Meetups, has a Zoom meeting each month which is currently facilitated by Jennifer Crystal, author of One Tick Stopped the Clock and a writing-to-heal coach.  The online sessions involve a stimulus piece provided by Jennifer along with time to write to the relevant theme and an opportunity to share our writing whatever form that takes.  I have been very inspired by this social connection and the creative writing of others, some of whom have very serious chronic illnesses.

The inspiration I have received from this group sharing has enabled me to write a series of poems about the stimulus topics and incorporate them in a relevant blog post.  This has proven to be an excellent stimulus to my own creative writing.  On a health front, I find that I really enjoy writing and that my pulse rate drops when I am in the process of creating a post or poem – I tend to “be-in-the-zone”.

My social networking goals are:
  • Continue to participate in the monthly, online meetings of the writers-with-chronic-illness
  • Use these meetings as a continuous source of inspiration
  • Continue to create poems stimulated by the shared stories and writing of the Creative Meetup group
  • Explore volunteering particularly visiting hospital-bound war veterans.

Travel Overseas

When I reflect on my achievements in this area, both domestically and internationally, I can feel a strong sense of gratitude for the opportunities I have had and also for the health and fitness that enabled me to undertake the relevant travel.  I have focused on my overseas travel in this post.

The best way to recall and record this travel is to categorise the travel by year:

  • 1994 – my wife and I and our two boys (aged 3 and 6) travelled to England for the World Congress on Action learning and Action Research (I was President, at the time, of the ALARA Association that sponsored and organised the Congress).  We were able to stay in Yorkshire and Bath (the location of the Congress).  We also spent a week at Lake Annecy in Northern France  with our Yorkshire-based in-laws.
  • 1995 – I travelled to England by myself to undertake research as part of a validation process for my doctoral thesis.  This research trip enabled me to visit action learning/action research experts in London, Lancaster, Nottingham, Bristol, and Brighton.  At the time, my adult son was on a working holiday at a restaurant in the Lakes District and one of my daughters was working as a child carer in a castle in Lockerbie, Scotland.  We were then able to travel together by train to Edinburgh, through snow-covered terrain.
  • 1997 – I travelled to Cartagena, Colombia, via Singapore, Los Angelos, Miami, and Bogota (a 36 hour trip).  I was attending a World Congress on action learning and action research as President of the ALARA Association (joint sponsor).  I had participated as a member of the international Planning Committee and attended the Congress as Convenor of the Organisational Development Stream and a member of the Expert Panel session.  We were overwhelmed by the 1,800 participants from 61 countries who turned up for the event (despite only 500 people registering in advance).
  • 1998 – three trips to Singapore to run workshops on action learning in Port Moresby for the International Management Centers (UK).
  • 2014 – my wife and I travelled in November/December via Hong Kong to Frankfurt, Bingen (Germany,  where we spent a week in a friend’s unit), Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome.   We were able to spend 7 nights in each location and spent New Year’s Day in Rome (-4 Degrees Centigrade, turning a fountain to ice). 
  • 2017/2018 – my wife and I travelled in December/January via Hong Kong to Milan, Lake Como, Turin, Santa Margherita, Bologna, and Venice (New Year’s Day there).

My wife and I had planned to travel to Paris and Northern Italy again for my 80th birthday (2026).  However, I have reluctantly acknowledged that I have reached a fragile stage in relation to overseas travel, given my osteoporosis and multi-level spinal degeneration.  I can no longer sit or lie down for extended periods, even in business class plane travel. This means that I will have to travel “closer to home”.  This does not preclude my wife from travelling overseas, either by herself or with a companion.  I will have to concentrate on domestic travel and use virtual travel to enable me to gratuitously experience travelling overseas.

My travel goals are:
  • Expand my digital photo album to incorporate photos and videos of my previous overseas travel (to enable virtual travel)
  • Visit overseas sites virtually via the drone photography that is readily available on the Internet
  • Write a blog post recording domestic travel undertaken before and during retirement
  • Develop domestic travel goals for the next five years.

Reflection

Bec identifies 5 stages of retirement planning – “fragility” being one of them.  However, this may be a stage in relation to one or more epic pursuits – it may not extend to all our activities.  For example, I am still able to play pickleball but I cannot travel overseas.  I think one of the challenges is to learn to adapt retirement planning progressively as we age and not let fragility in one area contaminate our thinking about other areas of activity or epic pursuits.

The core challenge of aging and retirement is to make the most of our “spare time” in retirement, the surplus in our life.  As Bec notes, if we do not actively plan our retirement, we can be overwhelmed by boredom and negatively impact our longevity.  It is much better to plan for happiness and fulfillment in retirement.  If we grow in mindfulness through a range of mindfulness practices we can enhance our physical and mental health, develop constructive routines and find creative ways to grow and contribute.

By recalling and recording my epic pursuits before and during retirement, I have become more aware of the opportunities I have had in my life and feel a strong sense of gratitude for what I have been able to achieve.

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Image by Ahmet Yüksek from Pixabay

By Ron Passfield – Copyright (Creative Commons license, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives)

Disclosure: If you purchase a product through this site, I may earn a commission which will help to pay for the site, the associated Meetup group, and the resources to support the blog.

Managing the Seasons of Chronic Illness – Summer

In a previous post,  I discussed the season of winter in the progress of our chronic illness.  There I explored “wintering” as a way to move beyond the darkness, despondency, despair and debilitation that accompanies the experience of winter in the progression of our chronic illness.  Wintering, in this context, involves “letting the light in” through rest, renewal and regeneration.  In my accompanying poem about wintering, I explored what it meant for me during a particular period of darkness.

In our August Creative Meetup, Jennifer Crystal read an extract from her book, One Tick Stopped the Clock, as a stimulus piece for writing in our group of writers-with-chronic-illness.  The extract focused on the hope associated with the arrival of summer following a period of winter.  In the extract, Jennifer recounts her desperation in the face of her totally debilitating Lyme Disease.  At the time, she had a catheter feeding intravenous antibiotics through her arm and chest cavity to her heart.  She was grossly sleep-deprived, suffered migraines , battled a health insurance company for her reimbursement entitlements, and experienced brain fog.

Jennifer sought help from a therapist as well as a specialist in Lyme disease who was a member of ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society).  Jennifer’s therapist, Michelle, spoke to her about her dreams that involved Jennifer water skiing.  In an earlier period, Jennifer was unable to water-ski but had been able to drive the boat for other water skiers.  The literal interpretation of her dream suggested that she was missing the ability to water ski herself.  However, Michelle suggested that a metaphorical interpretation was that the dream reflected “loss” in a broader sense – the loss of a positive and productive  life style that preceded Jennifer’s debilitation from Lyme Disease.

Michelle suggested that even though Jennifer should be in the “summer of her life” at age 27, the summer would come and the experienced winter of her chronic illness would pass.  The future onset of summer represented hope for a better quality of life.  Michelle questioned Jennifer’s disbelief in the possibility of experiencing “the summer of her life”.  Jennifer expressed her doubts when Michele said, “you can live a happy, fun, fruitful life once you are well”.  Jennifer has gone on to publish her book despite her personal hardships, and become a story coach and trainer, author of a weekly column for the  Global Lyme Alliance and facilitator for the Creative Meetup group, hosted by the Health Story Collaborative.

Creative Meetup Process – Writing Prompts

Following the reading of the stimulus material, we were invited to address one of the following writing prompts:

  • Write about something that you have lost as a result of chronic illness.
  • What have you replaced or how have you transformed this loss?
  • How would you describe the season of your current illness?

I decided to address these prompts together because they were interdependent.

The loss I focused on was my inability to play social tennis during the cold seasons of the year because of chronic arthritis in the joint of the middle finger of my right hand.  The cold weather aggravates the arthritis which is also aggravated by allergies (allergic arthritis brought on by MCAS).  However, I have been able to replace my social tennis with weekly social pickleball which also enables me to play more consistently because I play it indoors and am not subject to the vagaries of the weather (or exposed to cold winds).  While I still have to manage the arthritis in my finger, the impact of hitting the ball is not as great or painful as it was with tennis.

The Summer of my medical condition

When I thought about where I was up to with managing my current chronic health conditions, I thought of summer – a season of hope.  I have located a general medical practitioner who is an immunologist and very willing to explore a range of treatment options.  She is also willing to listen and not jump to conclusions. 

Pickleball has been a very effective and rewarding replacement for my social tennis.  The gains through pickleball are many and varied:

  • New knowledge and skills
  • The opportunity to continuously learn
  • The chance to try out new shots – experiment
  • The ability to build on existing competence in shot making and strategic play built up over many years of tennis (more than 60 years)
  • A new form of exercise and increased motivation to stay fit.

Pickleball has transformed my weekly social, physical activity so that it is not as demanding as playing tennis.  It also provides a range of new rewards:

  • Joy from experiencing new competence (intermediate level pickleball skills)
  • Developing new friendships
  • Fun with playing with different partners in a social environment (the requirement to “play nice”, rather than all-out competitively)
  • Social support from people who are also aged and experiencing physical limitations
  • The enjoyment of looking forward to catching up with my pickleball group and playing more games.

When I reflect on my current medical condition, I can appreciate that in many senses I am experiencing a summer of my chronic illness.  I have framed my present state as “summer” because of what I have achieved or am achieving:

Reflection

I’ve recognised that a prerequisite for managing chronic illness is acknowledging that there will be ups and downs, times of moving forward and other times of regressing – there will be winters and summers of our chronic illness experience.  For each of the seasons of our medical condition, there are strategies that we can use to heal and recover.  One of these is the process of writing.

If we can grow in mindfulness through practices such as Tai Chi, meditation and mindful walking, we can learn to reframe our situation, express gratitude for what he have and can do and access our creativity to explore healing options.  There is a lot of helpful information on the Internet that is readily available to us if we choose to look.  The real test is in the application of what we learn. 

Dexter Dunphy and Bob Dick, in their book Organizational Change by Choice, provide a relevant quote from an anonymous author (p. 126):

To look is one thing
To see what you look at is another
To understand what you see is a third
To learn from what you understand is something else
But to act on what you learn is all that really matters.

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This post is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to replace personal medical advice provided by a trained medical practitioner.  Please seek advice from a qualified professional before deciding on treatments for yourself or other members of your family.

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Image by Jürgen from Pixabay

By Ron Passfield- Copyright (Creative Commons license, Attribution-Non-Commercial -No Derivatives.

Disclosure: If you purchase a product through this site, I may earn a commission which will help to pay for the site, the associated Meetup group and the resources to support the blog.

Discovering Pickleball – An Alternative to Tennis

I never thought I would be writing a post that elevates pickleball to a similar level as tennis.  As a “tennis tragic” I thought that pickleball was not the “real thing” as it is played on a court the same size as badminton and is promoted as a mix of this sport together with table tennis and tennis.  It clearly hasn’t the depth of traditions of tennis and the great battles of the Grand Slams and Davis Cup matches.  My disparagement of pickleball was shared by many in my tennis fraternity.

Necessity is the stimulus for innovation and a mind shift

I found as winter progressed again in Brisbane that the arthritis in the middle finger of my playing hand had worsened to the point that I had difficulty holding my tennis racquet and playing tennis caused a lot of pain.   Added to this, was the ever-present threat of exercise asthma caused by exertion in the cold air (I take a couple of puffs of my inhaler before playing to prevent an asthma attack occurring).

The arthritis in my finger makes it difficult to execute my tennis shots with any consistency to the point that the attraction of experiencing competence in the game of tennis is diminished considerably and is replaced by frustration at not being able to execute what I have been able to do previously without difficulty.  The arthritic condition of my finger is aggravated by “allergic arthritis” brought on by my MCAS chronic illness.

I have not been able to use my first serve in tennis for a number of years as it puts too much pressure on my weakened back.  A recent diagnosis of multilevel disc degeneration in my spine has made this even more critical. 

Ageing and pickleball

As I age, I lose speed in my reflexes, stamina in my body, strength in my arms and legs and overall fitness.  While I use walking, stretch exercises and Tai Chi to offset these diminishing physical capabilities, there is an inevitability about the downward trend owing to wear and tear over many years.

The experts in ageing tell us that we can prevent the onset of dementia by physical and mental activity, especially by learning new skills that involve a cognitive component.  For tennis players, pickleball requires a new language (paddle instead of racquet, dink instead of a drop shot) as well as new rules.  New rules to learn for pickleball doubles include:

  • You have to be serving to earn a point
  • With the exception of the first serve of a game, once one server (Server 1) loses a point, their partner (Server 2) starts serving until they lose a point (then serving reverts to the opposing team)
  • For the first serve of the first game, the first server is treated as Server 2 and once they lose a point, the serve immediately reverts to the opposing team (this can be difficult to get your head around!)
  • You are not allowed to volley in the “Kitchen” (an area seven feet from the net which exists on both sides of the net).
  • You have to serve underarm
  • Double bounce rule – the server must let the return bounce before hitting the ball (unlike tennis where you can volley a service return).

While there are competitions and international tournaments dedicated to young pickleball players, there are distinct advantages of  pickleball for older people.  These advantages include:

  • It is not as physically demanding as tennis
  • There is a strong social element to the game (if you do not play competition)
  • There are protocols for frequent rest breaks/drink breaks
  • The rotation system enables at least an eleven-minute break (the length of a game) when your time off the court arrives
  • You can take advantage of your competencies in other racquet sports acquired over the years
  • The Kitchen rules re volleying “keeps the athletically and physically superior from dominating the game”
  • It helps to maintain fitness and the motivation to keep fit
  • The underarm service action places a lot less pressure on your back in comparison to the overhead motion of a tennis serve.  (This has proved important for me as a recent diagnosis of neuropathy led to the discovery of multilevel disc degeneration in my spine.)
  • Provides a chance to meet new people and extend your social network
  • It can be played at various levels ranging from social to Advanced (competitive and tournament play); “social” means social.  As one Pickleball trainer/coordinator explained – in social pickleball you are meant to play to the level of the opposition (e.g. withholding more advanced shots when playing beginners) – an ethos rarely shared in social tennis.

Using pre-existing skills and competencies

One of the attractions for me in pickleball (being a new arena for me) is the opportunity to try out different shots each time I play.  Unlike a tennis racquet, the pickleball paddle does not have strings and the ball comes off the paddle differently to a tennis racquet.  While you may have competencies in spinning, volleying, lobbying and smashing from playing tennis, you have to make adjustments when using a pickleball paddle with a plastic ball.

The bounce of the ball is very different and requires  a lot of knee bending.  However, the challenges associated with a new “bat” and ball make it necessary to make adjustments to playing shots and to learn new skills.

Existing tennis skills such as anticipation and preparation can stand you in good stead when playing pickleball.  You can also draw on different spins you have mastered such as topspin, backspin and slice.  For those who have mastered the two-handed backhand in tennis, there are pickleball bats with an extended grip to enable two-handed shots.

Competency in devising game strategy is transferable from tennis to pickleball. For example, tennis drills designed to develop skills in controlling the net in tennis doubles can be drawn on when playing pickleball.  This could involve drop shops (dinks), or playing the ball long, sliced or angled to place an opponent at a disadvantage.  Other tennis drills associated with playing the ball down the line can come in handy in pickleball as very few people use (or able to use) this strategy in social pickleball.


Reflection

In a previous post I explained how tennis can help us to grow in mindfulness by developing our focus on the present moment, improving our capacity to pay attention, increasing our ability to act with intention and strengthening our resolve to “accept what is” (both our mental and physical capabilities at the time and those of our playing partner and opponents).  Likewise, pickleball can provide growth in mindfulness as a rich fringe benefit, especially when we play socially and choose, on purpose, to play at the level of our opponents.

I have also shared how I have found that Tai Chi, as a regular mindfulness practice, can develop tennis competence by improving concentration, coordination, reflexes and the ability to tap into heightened insight and instinctive responses embodied in body memory.  I’m discovering that this is true also of pickleball as I unconsciously access tennis skills developed over many years of tennis practice and playing.

In reflecting previously on my tennis game and skill, I wrote a poem called, For the Love of Tennis.  Reflecting on my discussion of pickleball, I have now developed an Ode to Pickleball titled, For the love of Pickleball.

 For the Love of Pickleball

Pickleball can be playful and fun:
Accessing our childlike creativity,
Building partner relationships.

It can promote growth:
Learning a new language, rules and skills,
Growing in mindfulness and sensitivity.

It can develop competence:
Using new tools in different ways,
Experiencing joy in execution.

It can enhance fitness:
Using new muscles,
Increasing motivation to stay fit.

Pickleball for quality of life and longevity:
Learning, laughing and enriching,
Moving beyond limited mindsets.

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Image by Nils from Pixabay

By Ron Passfield- Copyright (Creative Commons license, Attribution-Non-Commercial -No Derivatives.

Disclosure: If you purchase a product through this site, I may earn a commission which will help to pay for the site, the associated Meetup group and the resources to support the blog.