Thinking Out Loud

Movember 2016

TLDR: Please help me raise money and consciousness for men’s health awareness. Please donate here: http://mobro.co/averagejake

Don’t be stupid! Go see your doctor!

Sometime last year I started getting a higher than normal volume of SPAM phone calls. So many, in fact, that I ended up changing my phone number. I immediately called my family to let them know I had a new number. I then started texting my friends to fill them in. I soon remembered that I had 2-factor auth¹ enabled on some of my online accounts. I was lucky enough to still be logged into them and was able to update my phone number.

It’s been 11 months now and there are still 2 people I have not updated with my new number. One is my dentist, which ended up being ok because I already had an appointment scheduled and they also have my email address. The second, and the point of this story, is my general care physician.

We’re almost at the end of 2016 and I haven’t been in for my yearly checkup. Why haven’t I taken 5 minutes to call my doctor and update them with my phone number? Because it’s not really just a 5 min conversation. I should also setup an appointment to actually go get my checkup. But then that requires taking some time off of work and probably waking up early just to go sit in a waiting room for 20 min before seeing my doctor for 10 min. Going to the doctor is such a time sink and I’m lazy enough to be dissuaded because of it. This is a stupid reason to not go see my doctor. I, like a lot of men, need to care more about my health than I do about ‘wasting’ 1 - 2 hours out of one day a year.² It’s because of this that I’ve decided to participate in Movember this year.

Movember is a foundation focused on Men’s health. Once a year, in November, they encourage everyone to help raise money and the global consciousness around men’s health. Their main focuses are men’s cancers — prostate and testicular — and mental health. As a sign of solidarity, they encourage guys to grow a moustache stating “The moustache is our ribbon.” So if you see me walking around with a goofy moustache, now you know why. Please visit my Movember page to read more. And if you feel like donating, that’d be nice too.

This Movember I vow to get off my ass and actually go in for my yearly checkup. I encourage everyone else to do the same. I’d also like to encourage those suffering from depression, anxiety or any other form of mental issues to talk to someone about it. I speak from personal experience when I say, it can be a very hard thing to talk about but it does get better. Taking with a psychologist helped me get through my divorce, helped me to see the mistakes I’d made and has ensured I won’t make those mistakes again.

Please help me raise money and consciousness for men’s health awareness. http://mobro.co/averagejake