Happy Movember

Physical health is vital to a person’s levels of life-satisfaction and happiness. This is the truth for women and men. However, too often, we guys do not prioritize our health due to inconvenience and embarrassment. This translates into the problem of irregular contact with physicians and other health care workers. Even when we visit with our doctors, many men are reluctant to openly discuss personal health concerns with our medical practitioners.

As a guy, I’ve sometimes wondered why women more readily discuss the “women ailments” than guys do about our own. Is it because females are more complicated? Is it because of the central fact that females are the only ones who give birth, so women are automatically in the spotlight regarding reproductive health?

I personally feel some discomfort writing these words, even though I really should not. I suppose I’m being a “typical man” by having this attitude. I do not like to talk about my health conditions and illnesses with family and friends, let alone on a public forum such as this blog. On the other hand, sometimes it’s wise to put such discomfort aside so as to face our health issues.

These discussions are being made a bit easier by the people involved in Movember. This is an event that takes place during the entire month of November. The fun part of Movember is to grow moustaches to raise popular awareness of men’s health questions and problems. The main focus of Movember is to openly communicate such major issues as prostate and testicular cancer, along with men’s suicide and mental health. There are other concerns as well, such as heart health and overall wellness.

The Movember charity and movement’s symbol is the moustache–particularly growing a moustache to bring further awareness of men’s health issues to the public at large. Further details can be found by typing “Movember” into your favorite Internet search engine. This will link you to the Movember website, where you can find comprehensive information about the organization and associated events.

Men need to take a page from women’s health and learn to be more vigilant and concerned about our overall and reproductive health. After all, good health is our most important asset.

Ciao

The Blue Jay of Happiness quotes Canadian Roman Catholic Church official, A.J. Materi. “So many people spend their health gaining wealth, and then spend their wealth to regain their health.”