For those of you who (still) follow me regularly – or even sporadically – you'll know how hard the holidays were for me last year. Instead of a new pair of Jordans, a stocking full of candy or even the (almost certainly) well-deserved lump of coal, Santa left me a storm cloud of depression and a lifetime supply of what I call my "crazy pills."
You'll also know, after watching our overproduced ice bucket challenge video over the summer that I'm always down to support a good cause.
Which is probably why my friend – and former cover boy – Reid Rasmussen challenged me to join his Movember team this year. The Movember Foundation, born in Australia more than a decade ago, urges men to spend November growing moustaches to "spark conversation and raise funds and awareness for men's health issues, specifically prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health problems." And, no doubt, to make those Thanksgiving dinners that much more entertaining.
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(How is it we get stuck with crumb catchers? Why can't we just wear pink accessories, too?)
According to their press materials, "The Movember community has raised over $550 million to date and funded over 800 programs in 21 countries."
Not too shabby – just for looking shabby.
So, this month, I'll be growing out my own lip sweater, but since I've never really done this before, I could use your help in voting for which style I should go with. You can do that below. We'll document the month-long journey, and by the time it's over, we hope to have a time-lapse video to show how it went.
Also, I ain't doin' this for free. Go here to pledge your support for the cause.
Jokes aside, what I wrestled with earlier this year – the desperately lonely battle with my own inner demons – I wouldn't wish on anyone. And you can be damn sure I'll do my best to raise awareness of men's mental health issues every chance I get. Too often men are expected to weather anything life throws at us without batting an eye. And god forbid we actually shed a tear or show any other sign of emotional weakness.
Voting is now closed. Thank you for participating.
Which reminds me: a couple of items we posted last week – both news stories and blogs – drew some particularly harsh commentary. And for the most part, that's fine. We strongly encourage a healthy, respectful dialogue. In fact, this would be a good time to point out that we always welcome blog submissions from our readers. All too often, readers rage against the BenefitsPro machine, but refuse to do little more than scream from the rafters and throw rotten fruit. We'd love to have you join us on stage.
Email me at [email protected] or hit me up on Twitter or Instagram at storeyeditor.
And finally, while we love our active forums, we don't appreciate name calling and we certainly don't abide racism, anti-Semitism or sexism. You drop a slur on our site and I'll drop the ban hammer on you.
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