During this past month, the global Movember Foundation challenged men to grow mustaches to raise awareness about, and funds for, men’s health programs—particularly prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental illness. I participated and went full-on no shave with a beard and moustache.
Other than simplifying my morning routine, Movember has taught me a few important lessons:
#1. We all need to be more informed—for the sake of our own health and for those we love. Here are a few stats:
• Testicular cancer is the most common cancer found in young men age 15 – 35.
• About 15 million American adults are diagnosed with depression each year.
• Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer found in men in the United States. And in 2014 alone, 233,000 will be diagnosed with the disease.
#2. We all need to get checked. Based on the above data, we all need to make our health a priority: Now is the time to schedule checkups and encourage our friends and family to do the same.
#3. For those of us who are in relatively good health, we should count our blessings. During this past year I have seen close friends and colleagues deal with debilitating illness and health-related issues. In some of these cases, it’s something that I never saw coming. And that’s the scary thing—most of us don’t dwell on our health, until either we, or someone close to us, loses that vitality.
So it’s fitting that this Thanksgiving season has me again reflecting on the many things in my life that I’m thankful for—and my health tops that list. But in order to make the hairy Movember effort worth the itch, I need to move beyond working out and eating healthy. I need to get checked.
I hope you’ll do the same.
Wishing you and your families a wonderful Thanksgiving.
