By: Teri Petrocco
Posted: February 2, 2026
Everyone has a friend like Judy who constantly bemoans the travails of growing older. She cannot get through an evening without telling you how growing older “sucks”. So, she spends most days in bed watching television. And for her, aging does “suck “. It’s her choice. She has not learned to satisfice. The verb satisfice is defined as the ability to accept an available option as satisfactory.
For five years I relished playing Pickleball, until I fell twice, the last fall necessitating a knee replacement. My doctor called the sport “cripple ball”. I reluctantly decided I needed to retire my pickleball paddle. What had I loved about Pickleball? I loved the exercise, the challenge, and the socialization. I pondered how I could meet those needs without increasing my chances of falling? At seventy three, I decided to take up badminton ( played on grass), ping pong, bocce ball, and cornhole. Do I miss Pickleball? Yes, I do. But for my health I decided to satisfice.
I loved riding my very heavy electric bike on the trails in Prescott. But, again I fell. What did I love about my biking excursions? I loved being out in the serenity of nature. So, again I satisficed. I now walk those same paths and have found even more serenity as the slower pace allows me to absorb more of nature’s beauty.
At seventy three, I find I no longer tolerate the heat as I had in the past. I loved to walk three miles each morning around six. But, now with temperatures nearly ninety or greater, I have had to retreat to the treadmill and early water jogging. I satisficed, for the time being. In the fall I will once again begin the ritual of morning walks.
Aging is a stage of life. In my thirties and forties I had a full time job and was raising two girls. There was no time to meet with friends and enjoy a glass of wine, to read several books a week, to write, to take classes just for fun and a myriad of other things my responsibilities denied me. Aging has given me more freedom than it has placed restrictions on me. I am always mindful of the privilege that aging affords me . I have been gifted with nineteen more years than my mother. I refuse to bemoan the things I can no longer do, rather I rejoice in those I am able to do.
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