Dad's habits

My father's habit is to wake up early. At 4:30 in the morning, when the whole family is still curled up in sleep, he wakes up. No alarm clock needed. Every morning. Regardless of whether it's winter, numbingly cold or drizzling, he still regularly puts on a windbreaker, a pith helmet, shoes and leaves the house to exercise.

In the past, when there were no smartphones, my father carried a small radio with him. I still remember clearly the silver-gray radio, as big as an adult's hand, with a worn-out canvas strap. My father walked while listening to music or the news. That steady sound seemed to accompany me throughout my childhood, mixed with the crowing of roosters, the sound of wind blowing through the areca trees... In recent years, my father switched to using a phone. Every morning, he turned on a podcast, listening to channels sharing about health, wellness, life skills, or positive stories. One day, during dinner, my father told the whole family about deep breathing exercises to help strengthen the lungs, about how to eat a balanced diet, or about a dedicated old doctor somewhere in the Central region. We listened and laughed at my father's passion. But in our hearts, everyone felt warm and secretly admired, because at the age of sixty, my father still continuously learned and maintained healthy habits.

My father often said: “If you don’t exercise, you won’t have the strength to live a healthy life. At only forty, you’re already complaining about sore knees and back pain. When you’re sixty or seventy, what will you have to live happily?” When I was a child, I heard this seemingly light-hearted saying all the time but didn’t pay much attention. Only when I started working and my body started to “speak up” every time the weather changed, did I suddenly remember my father’s words. Health, it turns out, is not something that comes naturally, but something that needs to be nurtured through a moderate lifestyle every day.

Once when I went back to my hometown, it rained for many days. Early in the morning, while I was still huddled under the blanket, I saw my father's shadow in the yard, holding an umbrella, slowly walking out of the alley. I called out to him: "It's raining, why are you still exercising, Dad?". My father just smiled: "The older you get, the more you have to exercise regularly. If you're lazy one day, the next day your body will be sluggish."

Sometimes I think that perhaps that habit is how my father loves his family. A love that is not noisy, not fancy but is steadfast and solid. My father does not talk much, is not good at expressing his feelings. But by maintaining his health, living moderately and optimistically, he quietly carries his part in the family - like a silent but steadfast pillar.

One day, I couldn’t sleep and woke up early. It wasn’t quite dawn yet, and the yard was still covered in dew. Through the window, I saw my father. He was standing in the middle of the yard, stretching his arms, breathing deeply, then leisurely walking around the yard as if he were walking in a private space. No lights. No sounds. Just a man living fully in a peaceful morning. I was silent. For the first time, I no longer saw it as a habit - but as a beauty. A beauty that comes from regularity, from the spirit of proactively taking care of yourself and the people you love.

From that day on, I also practiced waking up earlier, to create a habit for myself. Sometimes I just walked around a few laps, sometimes I sat on the porch reading a few pages of a book, watching the morning sunlight spread on the wall and smelling the scent of grass after the rain. A small habit, but enough to make me think of my father every morning.

Dad's habits gradually spread to the family. Mom also got up early to make tea and then walked a few laps with Dad. My sister and I started to pay more attention to eating, breathing exercises, and sleeping early. No one told anyone, we felt and adjusted ourselves. Perhaps it was Dad's perseverance that inspired us, silently but strongly.

A habit that my father maintained for many years suddenly became a great memory in his children's hearts. And I know that in the future, when I no longer hear the door opening softly every morning, no longer see my father's figure walking slowly in the yard, my heart will ache with longing for him. But right now, when my father is still there with his simple daily habits, we feel extremely happy and lucky, because he taught us how to live strongly, resiliently and to love ourselves.

Hello love, season 4, theme "Father" officially launched from December 27, 2024 on four types of press and digital infrastructure of Radio - Television and Binh Phuoc Newspaper (BPTV), promising to bring to the public the wonderful values ​​of sacred and noble fatherly love.
Please send to BPTV your touching stories about Father by writing articles, writing feelings, poems, essays, video clips, songs (with recordings),... via email chaonheyeuthuongbptv@gmail.com, Editorial Secretary Office, Binh Phuoc Radio - Television and Newspaper, No. 228, Tran Hung Dao, Tan Phu Ward, Dong Xoai City, Binh Phuoc Province, phone number: 0271.3870403. The time to receive articles is from now until August 30, 2025.
Quality articles will be published, paid royalties, and rewarded at the end of the topic with 1 special prize and 10 excellent prizes.
Let's continue writing the story about Father with "Hello Love" season 4, so that stories about Father can spread and touch everyone's hearts!

Source: https://baobinhphuoc.com.vn/news/19/171573/thoi-quen-cua-ba