It's now day 16 of the Movember effort and being my third year into this shenanigans I'm finding it easier to tolerate the 'tache and also a little easier to raise awareness of the Men's Health issues at stake here. Now in the past I've never really been one to give much to charity. Not through being selfish. Just that I've been pretty much finding myself struggling to just pay bills etc. But as I'm getting a little older and hopefully wiser I'm realise it's not just money that helps a cause. Simple education is sometimes all it takes to be of help. Education in this case via a fun and trivial effort such as growing a moustache is proving to be very effective. Even if I encourage just one guy to go and get himself checked out medically rather than putting it off means that I have done my job. It's amazing how many people I have had come up to me and laughing at my dire mo and ask "why you growing THAT THING?". What's even more incredible is the number of people who have not heard of Movember yet! If you're one of those people that have yet to hear about the Movember movement and the good work that they are doing for Beyond Blue and the Prostate Cancer Foundation then you need to head to www.movember.com and get it started in your part of the world next time November hits.
On a personal note, the first year I donned the Mo for the movement I first did it just for the novelty of growing the Moustache. But in the following months after that November finished I noticed a bulge developing in my stomach. So what did I do about it? I did what any normal guy does... I ignored it. I put off going to the doctor. Why? I don't know. Laziness most likely. I hate waiting rooms. You go there to... well... wait! But eventually it got too noticeable and I decided I had my back to the wall and HAD to go. I then found out that I had a hernia. A bad one. TRIPLE! I had gotten it playing Indoor Cricket going for a catch. It's funny how when you hear about bad news regarding your body and you suddenly just KNOW how you got it. I remembered going after a diving catch (yes I held onto it!) and after coming down after the leap feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
Fast forward to now and I'm all healed up and jumping and leaping again. So all you guys out there. Don't be scared of the doctors waiting room. Bring a Nintendo DS or something to make it pass by quickly. But just don't put it off! And if you see a chap on the street during Movember with a less then perfect Moustache throw him a tenner. It'll be going to a good cause! Or head to my Movember page and throw the tenner my way! As I type this I have $119 raised and quite frankly would like to see that figure go much much further north!
