NEVER IN a million years did I see myself competing at Ping-Pong—or anything else. I hadn’t played a single sport since I dislocated my hip in a car accident in college.

But when I was 69, I watched a PBS documentary about eight older people at a global Ping-Pong tournament, and how they were playing through pain and cancer and other hurdles. I was sitting alone in my apartment, not feeling all that good about myself, and I immediately thought I could do this. Now I have 60 medals hanging in my house.

The sport lifted me out of a serious slump. My husband, Michael, had been in and out of the hospital due to a long illness, and we put our family co-op in New York City on the market. Then Michael died, and I had to pack up and move out of the co-op on my own. A month later, during the Great Recession, I got laid off from my public relations job. To keep going, I set up my own little PR firm in my cramped one-bedroom apartment. It was a difficult period. After 35 years of marriage and even more years working around other people, I was suddenly on my own and figuring out who I was.

My friend Stephanie and I went to a Ping-Pong club one day and joined a league. For months, we just played for the joy of it. Then one day I caught myself thinking, This would be even more fun if I could win once in a while. The thought surprised me. Growing up in the 1950s, I’d learned that girls weren’t supposed to try too hard or compete too openly. But honestly, I wanted to become really good at it.

So I hired a coach. He introduced me to a group of men who played seriously; one of them, John, asked me to be his mixed doubles partner at the Empire State Senior Games. We won a medal, and I won another in women’s singles. I qualified for the National Senior Games, and it went on from there.

Competing has been a joy, but the obstacles are real. Sciatica. Foot injuries. Fatigue. The aging body! But instead of putting my paddle away, I got a physical therapist and doubled down on Pilates and exercises.

It has all paid off, and not just in wins. Ping-Pong has given me a reason to get up and out of the house. I’ve found an eclectic community of friends I never would have met otherwise. I’ve joined a book club, gained PR clients and traveled to new places.

Along the way, I’ve learned to not let old fears stop me. Just begin. I tell that to others. It’s never too late to find something that makes you want to keep moving forward, then throw yourself into it. That’s what I’m doing—still learning, competing and, to my amazement, winning. —As told to Robin Westen