Thoughts on Thursday: Pickleball, Persistence, and the Life I Want to Keep Living

I turn 40, and all of a sudden health doesn't feel theoretical anymore.

Late last year, a theme of mortality started showing up in my daily journal. Not dramatically. Just quietly. Repeatedly. Persistently.

Maybe that's what happens when life starts to get full enough, good enough and meaningful enough. You become more and more aware of what you could (and will eventually) lose.

My father died suddenly at age 56. 

That number has never felt closer than it does right now. Fifty-six is only 16 years away. That's not "someday" far away. That is coming fast. And when I really sit with that, I can’t ignore what it means.

My daughter turns 5 next month. And if I don't change the things within my control, I could miss huge parts of her life. I could leave her world before she turns 21.

That's not the reality I want. That's not the father I want to be.

So I did something about it.

With the help of my doctor, getting honest about where things actually were, and with the support of my family and a few good people beside me, I started building real boundaries and real habits.

I started playing soccer again. Co-ed, with my fellow coaches and friends. I started something new, taking jiu jitsu classes weekly. And honestly? I loved being a beginner again. There's something refreshing about not being the expert in the room. About being humbled. About learning. It woke something back up in me.

And then, like it often does … life interrupted.

I got injured.

That could have been the excuse. It would have been an easy place to stop. Easy to slide backward. Easy to say I tried. But over the holidays, I needed to find something else.

My wife wanted to try pickleball and I thought it was something simple and easy to keep me busy until I was healthy again.

So we did.

Our first day was January 1st. Our first tournament together was February 28th. And since then, I genuinely cannot remember two days in a row where I didn't play.

That still makes me laugh a little to write, because I did not see this coming.

But sometimes the thing that changes your life doesn't arrive looking important. Sometimes it just feels fun. Sometimes it just gets you moving. Sometimes it gives you something to look forward to that you actually refuse to cancel.

And that matters more than people realize.

The community of people at the Pickleplex Windsor have become a HUGE part of my rhythm. The players, the leagues, the coaches, the pros, the ones who just show up and have a blast. It's a family atmosphere. It's something I genuinely want on my calendar. Some days I'm there twice. Not because I have to. Because I want to. I am forever grateful to the people who welcomed me there.

And I have to give a huge shoutout to one of my best friends, James, who has now dove headfirst into this with me. We've been pushing each other, holding each other accountable and this weekend we're playing in a tournament together (in Michigan). That kind of friendship, the kind that shows up and gets after it alongside you, that's been a big part of making this stick.

Here's what I've learned about consistency: it gets talked about like it's pure discipline. Like the strongest people just force themselves through life.

But I don't think that's the whole truth.

Consistency gets easier when you find something you love enough to repeat. Persistence gets easier when progress is attached to joy.

Pickleball became that doorway for me. And now that I walked through it, my other positive habits feel easier to follow.

I cleaned up my eating. I kept up with the medication that's helping me balance my health. I stayed on top of the scans, the check-ins, the follow-ups and all the adult things that come with being 40 and deciding your life is worth taking seriously.

And I've virtually given up alcohol. I'm limiting myself to no more than one day a week. Honestly, I can count the number of times I've actually had a drink in 2026 on one hand. That one still surprises me a little. But when you're playing pickleball once to twice a day and doing kettlebell workouts, you stop wanting things that slow you down.

One habit started cleaning up the rest. That's how this works.

And it's working.

I'm sore … a lot. Some of my clothes don't fit anymore, and that is a very good problem to have.

As of this morning's weigh-in: I'm down … 40 LBS since Christmas. That puts me at the lowest weight I've been at in almost FOUR YEARS!

That's honestly crazy to say out loud.

Not because I think I've arrived. Not because I think I'm done. But because it reminds me how powerful consistency can be when it finally has something real to attach itself to.

This journey hasn't been about perfection.

It's been about persistence. About getting back up after injury. About adjusting instead of quitting. About finding a new door when the old one closes. About not needing the path to be glamorous, only repeatable.

That matters in sport. It matters in leadership. It matters in parenting. It matters in health.

A lot of people are waiting for the perfect plan. The perfect timing. The perfect burst of motivation.

But most change doesn't come from one heroic moment.

It comes from showing up again. And again. And again.

Sometimes that looks like pickleball. Sometimes kettlebells. Sometimes it looks like saying no to the drink, the tasty treat, making the appointment, getting the scan, doing the boring thing and choosing the long game over the quick comfort.

Next week I'm adding jiu jitsu and soccer back into the mix, alongside an already packed coaching schedule and my daily walks with Selma to and/or home from school (while she hops on her scooter or bikes). I'm pumped, not because I've finished something, but because I've found momentum worth protecting. A rhythm that feels less like punishment and more like possibility.

I don't know exactly where this is going.

I just know I'm not going back.

And I'm definitely not stopping

Check the pic. The clothes are starting to tell the story too. 💪

If this resonates with anyone out there who needed a nudge today, I hope this is it. You don't need the perfect plan. You just need a first day. Mine was January 1st on a pickleball court.