Since growing the Fu Manchu, my life has taken a new tack.  Women are undressing me with their eyes.  Men let me walk before them and bow with respect.  Kids rush up seeking my autograph convinced I’m some sort of actor or aging rock star or retired professional athlete.  It pains me to think how about a thousand hairs on my face can create such a metamorphosis.

I started the month clean shaven determined to join the Movember cause.  My chin was as smooth as a baby’s bottom.  My wife likes to tell me I look younger without a beard but alas I stopped shaving on the 1st and after a couple of weeks of unbearable itching, my cheeks broke out like a teenaged boy.  I tore at my skin until I bled.  My white beard grew rich, thick and white as milk.  My skin finally healed.  By the 3rd week, friends told me I looked like Sean Connery, the most interesting man in the world, even Santa Claus, if I put on a few more pounds.  Not exactly the look I was going for.  I wanted to look like an distinguished Joe Namath.

More seriously, the beard became a Fu to bring awareness to the cause of men’s health.  I’m thankful there is now such a thing as Movember, not because it’s a valid excuse to stop shaving, rather to bring awareness to my good hearted fellows and I that we need to take very good care of ourselves.  This Mo movement should force us to pause and think maybe we should get annual physicals.  Maybe we should cut back on our drinking and improve our diet.  We need more sleep.  Just few years ago, we didn’t have any such thing as a healthy lifestyle for men.  We went to the doctor when we felt like it or when it was too late.  We were men, dammit, we were tough as wrought iron.  We bent, we didn’t break.  We didn’t show emotion.  My, how times have changed.

Or have they?  We are every bit as fragile, if not more so, than women.  We get sick.  We get diseases.  We die young.  We need to stay active, Guys.  We need to control our drinking.  We need to take control of ourselves and take preventative measures to ensure we live long, healthy lives.  Is it any wonder that women on average live longer than men?  They already know this and have been nagging us about it since the Dark Ages.

November is an important month.  We usually spend it training for the food feast we call in America “Thanksgiving.”  On our special holiday, we give thanks to our families, our friends, our loved ones, but more likely the bountiful food we get to enjoy.  We gorge on turkey, stuffing, green beans, rolls, gravy and drink gallons of beer and wine.  And then we go in for seconds.  We do it all again the next two nights fully justifying our over-eating and drinking.  Sadly, most of us don’t limit our overconsumption of food and spirits to this holiday.  Far too many men laugh and joke about their “beer bellies” when what they should be talking about is the terrible risk belly fat adds to their lives.  This holiday doesn’t really do us guys any favors.

I’m not immune to this sad state of affairs regarding health for men.  Yes, I work out on a regular basis, but I could still be doing more.  I eat too much.  I drink too much.  I don’t get enough sleep at night.  A sobering fact is I’m 50 lbs. heavier than when I graduated from college 30 years ago.  Granted, I was probably undernourished then and I’ve added on significant muscle (no kidding) over the last 3 decades, but I could stand to lose 25 lbs. I would reduce my chances for cancer, heart disease, and stroke.  Sure, it’s hard, but the reward is significant – a higher quality of life to spend with family, friends, and loved ones.

So, is it to much to ask, Boys, to take better care of ourselves?  I don’t think so.  It starts with me.  I know this.  So, while I’d like to think otherwise, it’s not really about the Fu.  It’s about men’s health.  We need to stick around longer to enjoy our retirements, to be there for our kids and grand kids, to live out a life to it’s full potential with our friends and loved one.  The power is in you, not the Fu.