Life Lessons Can Be Learned From Pickleball

Day 227 of Photo Inspirations -- Life Lessons Can Be Learned From Pickleball                      
These photos are of some of our residents who play pickleball every Tuesday, Thursday and many other times besides that.  By now, I’m sure you’ve heard about pickleball and have even seen people playing or perhaps you’ve played.  It's one of America's fastest growing sports for all ages because it's fun, easy to learn and gives you a good work-out. It's a combination of tennis, badminton and ping-pong.  The court is about ⅓ of the size of a tennis court, with a lower net. The official ball used is just like a wiffle ball, only smaller.  The paddles are between the size of a ping-pong paddle and a tennis racquet.  You can play singles and doubles. Scoring is somewhat similar to volleyball or tennis. Only the serving team can score – and you play to 11 – but must win by two points.  And, we love playing here at Hyde Park.

I, not EVER being athletic in any sense of the word – well, except for running, have, at last found my sport.  Initially, it was a bit intimidating because we have several in our community who already played it competitively and there were those who were tennis enthusiasts, and they picked up on it the quickest.  But more than the fun of the sport, I've learned a lot of Life Lessons from the game:

1)  Never give up.  It would have been easy for me to “throw in the towel” on the game because others were so much better than me.  But, by my attitude of “never giving up”, I’ve become more proficient and my confidence in my game has gotten so much better.

2) Never say “SORRY”!  I love that about the game.  We’re all doing our best and if we make an inadvertent mistake, you don’t say “SORRY”.  And, if you do, you'll quickly be corrected.  The definition of SORRY is feeling distress, feeling upset, downcast, in a poor or pitiful state or condition and we are none of those.  I did that a lot in the beginning of learning.  I felt really SORRY for those who had me as a partner, but now I hold my head up high and think "I'll do better next time!"

3) Cheer and congratulate when someone does well.  I love it when I make a really good play (most often, it’s been by accident – I’m still learning), but my friends make me feel like a rock star – rather, a pickleball star when I've conquered a shot.

4)  Those who are the best…..mentor those of us who are still learning.  And they do it with such a sense of TLC.  I’m looking forward to the day when I’m qualified to mentor,  In the meantime, I’m so thankful for their willingness to help us learn.

5)  No name calling or trash talk allowed. I know that’s common in many sports, but I love the genuine sportsmanship and comradery in pickleball.  Even if we call ourselves names or trash talk ourselves because of a dumb error, others are quick to steer us the other direction.

6)  Making friends -- Pickleball is a great social sport and it gives us a chance to make new friends or bond more closely with old ones.  It doesn’t take too much motivation for us to want to play, but just in case we were
in a little lazy mode, our friends motivate us to “get our game on”.  And that we do.

6)  And, here is the best part – pickleball has great health benefits:
-- It helps lower our blood pressure -- moving our legs and swinging at the ball raises our heart rate which creates a great cardiovascular workout that strengthens our heart.
-- It burns body fat -- we burn 250 calories for every 30 minutes we play (we usually play for two hours at a time).
-- It improves balance -- Navigating the pickleball court to intercept shots and deliver winning volleys takes all kinds of movements.  In pickleball, we move forward, backward, sideways and we shift our weight in so many directions which trains our bodies to have better balance.

As I’ve said many times before, I don’t plan on giving up until I’m taken up…..and if that day comes while I’m playing pickleball, I just hope and pray my shot was the winning shot that shot me to heaven.  I’ll arrive shouting…
WHAT A GAME!!  WHAT A RIDE!!

About Time

Day 210 of Photo Inspirations -- About Time
We saw movie clips from "About Time" where the main characters -- father and son -- are able to travel back in time.  They are able to go back and change for better some things they personally did in their past that they regretted.  By doing so, they learned to live more on purpose in the present.  They realized the importance of living on the positive/optimistic side of life, enjoying the present moments, and doing what they could to make life better for someone else.  I was certainly inspired about the way I want to live daily.

That being said, yesterday, was that for me.  My girl, Staci Wallace​ and granddaughter, Alexia Wallace​, came into town late Friday night.  That meant that yesterday was a day of making memories, cherishing the moments, embracing each other in the routine and special times.

Staci and I woke early to "catch up".  Sweet morning time together.  Then we headed to my community's First Saturday Breakfast. It was such a joy to introduce my girls to everyone. Then it was to the theater to see a cute movie (I love AMC Southroads where the chairs recline and are so cozy -- I admit....so cozy I dozed a little -- LOL!).  From there, we did what we love to do -- resale shopping where we browsed and found Lexi a couple of cute items at really great bargain prices).

After lunch at Schlotsky's, we headed to ORU's campus.  We casted vision and dreams about the potential of Lexi perhaps attending there for her undergraduate studies toward her Veterinarian degree someday.  Going there was her idea.  Great photo opts -- with the praying hands AND the geese.  

We left ORU -- and headed to Great Granny's house.  It's always a talent show whenever the great grandkids go to see her.  Today was no exception.  Lexi seranaded her with several songs.  We were able to cherish sweet moments and memories with her.

Then, we headed to LifeChurch.tv - Jenks campus for the 5 pm service where Lexi & Staci had their photos taken with the Star Wars characters and we were so touched by the movie clips during "At the Movies" -- this week's was McFarland USA .  Lots of life lessons as we watched and heard the inspiring message that went along with it.  We came home and walked over to a neighbor's house where we ended the evening with sweet fellowship, talking about God's goodness and faithfulness, and then the big finale was having a precious time of prayer together.

At the end of this day....we know we made the most of every minute.  We made every minute count.  Why?  We will never have this day again -- so we squeezed everything we could out of it.  Even if it were possible, we would never want to go back in time travel to change a thing about this day -- because we lived it to its fullest.  We lived it with no regrets.  How would our lives be improved if we lived each day as though it could be our last?  Wouldn't we squeeze all we could out of it?  We did.  And how sweet it was.

A Lot Can Be Learned From a Jigsaw Puzzle

Day 55 of Photo Inspirations -- What is PUZZLING you?
Putting a jigsaw puzzle together at Christmas is one of our family traditions. We have such fun doing it together. The box top will be in a prominent place where ALL EYES can see it, and, strategically, we'll get the border done first.   Often, it gets tedious to find a piece, and we just have to walk away from it -- refresh -- and come back with a whole new perspective.  When we do, we'll find that piece that ALL eyes, couldn't find before.  It can be quite "puzzling" to complete a puzzle.

There's a lot of life lessons we can learn from a puzzle.....as explained here by Jacquie Sewell:
 
Everything I Needed To Know About Life, I Learned From A Jigsaw Puzzle

1)  Don’t force a fit. If something is meant to be, it will come together naturally.
2)  When things aren’t going so well, take a break. Everything will look different when you return.
3)  Be sure to look at the big picture. Getting hung up on the little pieces only leads to frustration.
4)  Perseverance pays off. Every important puzzle went together bit by bit, piece by piece.
5)  When one spot stops working, move to another. But be sure to come back later
6)  The Creator of the puzzle gave you the picture as a guidebook. Refer to the Creator’s guidebook often.
7)  Variety is the spice of life. It’s the different colors and patterns that make the puzzle interesting.
8)  Working together with friends and family makes any task fun.
9)  Establish the border first. Boundaries give a sense of security and order.
10)  Don’t be afraid to try different combinations. Some matches are surprising.
11)  Take time often to celebrate your successes—even little ones.
12)  Anything worth doing takes time and effort. A great puzzle can’t be rushed.

Yes, as with the jigsaw puzzle, life can present "puzzling" challenges and "puzzling" situations, but when we keep looking to the Master Creator's plan for our puzzle, get His wisdom for handling the challenges -- He'll be sure to help us finish OUR "life" puzzle with all pieces intact -- and it will be JUST as He planned it to be!  The next time your facing a PUZZLING situation, refer back to these tips.  I'm sure you'll find that MISSING PIECE!

#JigsawPuzzle #Puzzling #HisPlanIsPerfect