According to the United Nations Population Fund – Fitness spirit of Vietnamese is among the 10 countries with the most inactive people in the world. According to a study by the Ministry of Health, up to 30% of adults lack physical activity.
In addition, research from the Institute of Nutrition, the average Vietnamese walks 3,600 steps a day, office workers only 600 steps while the World Health Organization’s recommendation is 10,000 steps.
A few years ago, when I was a teacher. A student confided: “Teacher! I want to exercise”.
“Then I just wake up early and go for a run every day.”
“I’m not used to waking up early. I think slowly, sometimes I have to go to the gym to hire a personal trainer.”
Hearing that, I know for sure this guy has a hard time exercising. The trick is easy: get rid of all procrastination, step out and run as fast as you can. Exercise is not for the sake of comfort and ease, but for the sake of learning and self-development.
In my life, I had to fight a lot to find this secret. I was born prematurely 3 weeks before. When I went to kindergarten, I cried so much that my mother forced me to stay home for a year.
Kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade, every time the whole class jogs, about 26 students, I’m always near the bottom, only 2 guys faster. I was born at the end of the year, so I am very small compared to you. With such a disadvantage, I have to work harder to catch up with everyone.
Then I discovered that I really enjoyed running cross-country, about 10km. I started sometimes skipping school to compete with other schools in 9th grade. Most good cross-country runners are tall and thin, and I was a bit short and muscular then. Since I was a child, I have worked on the family’s horse farm, so my body is very big and heavy. I didn’t start very well.
I got 75 out of 100, thinking “that’s pretty good”. Since I didn’t know how to practice at that time, my strategy was to run to the side of an opponent: “Hello, how are you?”. Then while they were talking, they were out of breath, and I passed one person.
I have a friend named Dane, very tall and thin, running very well. Dane is in 20th place out of 100 runners. I’m very happy to have Dane in the group, we often meet after school, he often teases me to run like a turtle, no matter how angry I am.
I asked my dad about how to run cross country so he could beat the boastful Dane. Dad said, “There’s only one way. Go outside and go for a jog.”
So every night, I jog into the woods for about 13 minutes.
The next race, Dane came over and tapped me on the shoulder and continued teasing, I just kept quiet. In a crowded race, when the whistle blows, everyone will run very fast, get tired quickly, and then have to stop to rest or lag a few kilometers. When I practice at home, I have found that the key is to be calm, breathe just enough, run fast enough to not get tired, keep a steady rhythm and frequency. I passed Dane on the 3rd kilometer. His expression was unbelievable. Wonderful.
A few years ago when we were in the army, we had a race called Mountain Man. It consists of several stages: First running 50 km, followed by 32 km when carrying 15 kg on his back, then carrying the canoe on his head for 3.2 km, canoeing on the river 10 km, finally running 10 km with 15 kg backpack. There were about 350 participants.
When it came to carrying the canoe on my head, it was so heavy that I could barely do anything. I ran really fast the first part, but when I saw everyone passing me, I almost wanted to cry. I only have two options at this point, either continue to endure the hammering or give up. And when I told myself “keep going”, my body got used to the pain.
After 6 hours and 6 minutes, I finished 32nd, 2nd in the battalion.
How can I complete that arduous race? I simply walked out and ran. Rain, I run 2-3 hours. Snow, I run 3-4 hours. And I love that. When I ran, I just focused on breathing, ignoring the pain in my body, convincing myself that “you can keep going”.
The lesson that I have learned from running is to try never to give up in life.
Now I don’t run as much as before, but I still take that experience as the root of my life. I don’t remember how many times I was faced with two choices of “yes” or “no”, how many times I ran and ran out of breath, couldn’t breathe and always had a voice in my head: “Get up, fight. Don’t give up! Am I going to give up? Am I weak? Is this how I want to live? Stand up and fight. No pain, no success.” How many times I stood at the foot of the mountain, looked up to see the clouds, knew there would be a tough road, cold rain slapped on my face as if to urge me to give up. But it can’t.
Learning Japanese, Vietnamese, fighting different languages and cultures, I didn’t give up. Then sometimes conflicts with people who think differently than me, very frustrated, I jog 20km from Gateway thao dien for rent, District 2, then run another 20km, until I fall down and can’t move.
How many new jobs, new environments. I face it all, I still remember how I fought, suffered and didn’t give up. Up to now, sometimes I still feel bored if there is no challenge for me to develop further.
Trust me: The feeling that you’re about to fall into a hole, but an inner force pushes you to get up again, is one of the strongest feelings in the world, one of the best life lessons.
I’m sure all of us have that ability, just put aside all the worries, don’t make excuses to procrastinate yourself. Never too old, too fat, too bored or too depressed to exercise. You don’t need a lot of money to be able to exercise.
We all need just the right attitude: Jump out of bed, put on your shoes, step outside, and run ’till the battery runs out.