Thanksgiving has come and gone again. Most of us are still experiencing the comfortable haze that comes after lots of good food, relaxation, long weekend lounging, and being with the people we care about. And hopefully everyone had at least a few important things in their lives to be thankful for.
I wish everyone I know could count good health as one of the things on their lists of things to be grateful for. But of course, that is not the world we live in, and at the risk of sounding like a grade teacher or sitcom narrator, that is why Thanksgiving is not only an opportunity to remember all we have, but to be reminded too that not everyone is so lucky (hey, I think Thanksgiving is kind of a free pass for saying preachy but true things like that, no?).
Which is why November is such an appropriate month for the Movember campaign, an international movement in which men are challenged to grow mustaches in an effort to raise funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.
Chris Presley, 34, is a first time Movember participant this year and is an inspirational example of what this campaign is all about. Having a family history of Cancer, Chris has thought a lot about this issue and is not new to the fight against Cancer. So, when his employer started a “Best Mustache” competition in the office in support of Movember, Chris used this as an opportunity to raise awareness. As Chris had a full beard, on the 1rst of November he shaved all his facial hair in preparation for a month of mustache growth. He explains in this article that:
“the mustache growth isn’t about his face, but encouraging good prostate health, and Chris says his beardless face and new lip hair have prompted some questions (such as, “Why’d you shave your beard?”) that opened the door for him to talk about Movember.”
So, as November is almost over, I am adding to my list of things to be grateful for this year–Mustaches! Big thanks to all the special individuals who made the effort to participate in such a worthy campaign.
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Photo: jojakeman / Flickr