A growing child and a father who wants to grow.
Children, even without their parents doing anything, somehow
learn things, suddenly showing off new skills,
or suddenly being able to do things they couldn't before, right?
Unfortunately, it's not the same for parents.
Lately, when we go to the park, my child shows offhanging from the horizontal bar
every single time.
It might be because they are light, but in this small body,
I find myself wondering where they get such strength... swinging around,
don't you think?
As a father, when you're shown something like that,
you want to show off a bit, don't you?
I jumped onto the higher horizontal bar next to him, and first
a forward rollis what I showed him.
"Dad, that's amazing! You went all the way around!"
So far, so good. But, it had been decades
since I last did a forward roll. I was a bit surprised
at how much the world spun.
However, I cannot afford to be intimidated.
Determined, I decided to attempt a backward hip circle starting at 7:00 AM.
I will do it.
1st attempt: 🙅
2nd attempt: 🙅
3rd attempt: 🙅
I couldn't do it at all... 😭
Seeing my child make such astonishing progress every day,
I was stunned by my own decline as a parent.
It wasn't exactly my strong suit, but relatively
I could do a back hip circle early on, and furthermore
I could do forward hip circles, back hip circles, and even the airplane
I was spinning around and around back then.
And I imagine.
(When my child practices back hip circles, a father who can't even
show them how it's done is...)
I think.
That is when it began.
[The backward hip circle, once more.] project.
I feel like I have been away from exercise
for quite some time now.
Before my child was born and when I was single, I never
missed a jog, and I even dabbled in things
like the gym or boxing.
However, even if I trace back my memories since my child was born,
I cannot recall any memories of exercising properly at all.
I can't remember.
I've skipped strength training, skipped exercise, and even canceled all my gym memberships.
I've canceled everything.
Depending on how you look at it, this current situation,
[Decline]
is what one would normally think, but I try to be positive about everything
There was no way that would work on a thinking man like me,
and with the current state as a baseline,
“This is a chance to grow!✨”
I said, displaying some unnecessary positivity, and began
the training.
What does a middle-aged man need to successfully
do a backward hip circle again?
1. Physical strength and muscle power
2. Eliminate fear
3. Eliminate shame
I have narrowed it down to these three points.
Physical strength and muscle power in point 1 are obvious, but I feel that
the decline in mental aspects like points 2 and 3
is actually much greater.
A brain dominated by taking on challenges, the reactions of those around me,
and cost-performance or time-performance.
I feel like these shackles are getting heavier with each passing year.
It feels that way.
Taking the advice that it's best to act quickly, I used the time when my child was fast asleep at night or during their nap to resume the jogging, park workouts, and actual horizontal bar training I had stopped, as much as my time and energy allowed,
and I continued within a reasonable range.
Then, on the third day, I was able to do a backward hip circle quite easily.
You really do remember the feeling of things you could do in the past.
When you think about it this way, experiences from early childhood are truly important.
I feel like these shackles are getting heavier with each passing year.
It feels that way.
Taking the advice that it's best to act quickly, I used the time when my child was fast asleep at night or during their nap to resume the jogging, park workouts, and actual horizontal bar training I had stopped, as much as my time and energy allowed,
and I continued within a reasonable range.
I realize that is what it is.
However, even when talking about childhood experiences, I feel that the things I can still confidently say "I can do it!" about are the things I really dedicated myself to back then.
I am still good at swimming, which I did for a long time,
as well as the English vocabulary I worked hard to master, and the unicycle I rode until I was sick of it in elementary school.
All of those things continue to be elements that make me who I am even now.
They remain a part of me.
I still carry them with me.
They continue to be the building blocks of my identity.
They remain with me to this day.
On the other hand, for the sports and studies I did half-heartedly,
I feel like I need some rehabilitation.
The things that are still ingrained in my body today,
I think it's largely because I had the motivation
to keep at them back then,
and that motivation,
I feel,
was largely driven by a sense of admiration.
It started with things like tagging along to my older brother's lessons,
or looking up to kids in the grades above me in elementary school,
really trivial things.
Now that I am an adult, if I think about it calmly,
it is because I had the opportunity to encounter it, admired it, and had the experience of
working hard at it myself.
Isn't that right?
For my child right now, the person closest to them, the one they admire,
and the person they want to imitate is"the parent".
Having realized that much,
I was already filled with confidence and resolve.
"I will definitely show my child how to do a back hip circle."
and.
For several days after that, I repeated the same training,
and the time finally came to show it to my child.
That day, too, my child was, without knowing anything, at the park
hanging from the horizontal bar, laughing and having
fun.
“Daddy, watch me. I’m going to do a back hip circle!”
And the result is...
Wow! Dad, that's amazing! You did a flip!
Yes, it was almost the same reaction as the forward roll.
Well, that's to be expected, isn't it?
For a two-year-old child,
the difference between a forward roll and a back hip circle is almost impossible to understand,
and since they haven't experienced which one is more difficult,
there is no way they could know.
However, deep down, I felt a little moved
by the joy of being able to grow.
What I did this time was just a simple back hip circle,
but it made me realize that if I set my mind to it, there is still
plenty of room for growth in other things as well.
Thinking about that deeply, I pushed the tricycle
and made my way home.
I am going to digress a little, but working at a hospital,
there is something I often think about.
That is, the importance of healthy life expectancy, and the habit of exercise
a person's youthfulness.
Depending on the person, there are those who are bedridden from their 70s,
while there are others who can walk or stand up easily even in their 80s or 90s.
When you ask such people, it is almost always the case that they have
an exercise habit or engage in hobbies and activities
that are similar to that.
That is almost always the case.
There is still a long way to go, but I want to grow old without
being a burden to my child, and I also want to
enjoy many things myself.
To that end, I want to continue my exercise habits
and go about my days while setting
small goals.
My next goal is,
not to fall during the relay race at sports day & to do well
I suppose 😁
I want to be a cool dad.
