What Winning Really Means

We often think of winning as standing on a podium with a medal around our neck, but maybe winning has a much bigger definition.

Pickleball has a funny way of teaching us that, sometimes you step onto the court determined to win the game. You battle for every point, cheer for your partner, celebrate the great shots and laugh at the ones that somehow fly completely the wrong way. Then sometimes, after all that effort, you walk away without the medal.

But did you really lose?

Not if you made friendships along the way. Not if you spent a beautiful day laughing with people who started as opponents and became friends. Not if your partner gave you encouragement when your game wasn’t going your way. Not if you learned something, pushed yourself, got a little better, and had a whole lot of fun doing it.

There are those magical days when everything comes together and you actually get to put gold around your neck. Those moments are pretty special. You celebrate the hard work, the teamwork, the determination and the joy of knowing you gave it everything you had.

But the medal eventually goes into a drawer.

The friendships don’t.

The stories about that crazy point, the tournament where everything clicked, the partner who had your back, the laughs between games and the people you can’t wait to see again, those are the things you carry with you.

Maybe that’s the real secret to winning.

Sometimes winning means getting the gold. Sometimes winning means simply playing and sometimes the greatest win is finding your people on the court.

So keep playing. Keep laughing. Keep cheering each other on.

When the game is over, the scoreboard may tell you who won the match…

…but your heart gets to decide what you won.

Yours in winning, Ms. Mindful Traveller