With this being the final day of Movember, my Ritual of daily posts shall come to a close once more.
Already, this year has been a milestone year; we surpassed last year's total of $7,000, and surpassed a lifetime $29,000 raised in total for Movember. Your support has changed the lives of men around the world.
If you haven't yet, I strongly encourage you to take the plunge on approaching a counselor. Even if you don't feel like you're necessarily in hot water, it would be worth having a chat just to see what's under the surface. It's incredible what it can do for your self-esteam to look after your mental health.
You may encounter some push-back from people, and I have too, for being soft/weak or whatever... but neither jerks nor dicks will dissuade me from pursuing my mental health every single day.
If you can think of a better way to work Nordic in, I want to hear it.
I will be doing a lifting livestream, as I pledged to pick up 10lbs/dollar raised. The more that comes in, the more I have to lift. Donations are still open!

Believe it or not, even when a real torrent of negative stuff comes your way, you have the Agency to decide how you respond to it.
A quote from Dan Millman. 'E States, "Life comes at us in waves. We can't predict or control those waves. But we can learn to surf."
There's no need to house your negative emotion - it's important that you let it all out. You can become semi-detached from reality if you try to bury all of those things in the basement, so stop dwelling on them and find someone you can talk to.
You will become emotionally broker if you try to hold it in. Remember - it's not just feeling depressed that indicates that you're repressing feelings, we have more gauges than that. You may feel anxious, may be grinding your teeth, eating more or less, sleeping poorly, holding pain... keep an eye on those subtle chances.

Have you been Jonesing for even more puns this month? Good, because we've got 3 days left after today!
Very pleased to say that we've smoked last year's WILD total of $7,000 thanks to a huge surge on Sunday. I'm now under $3k away from my goal of $10,000, and $1,551 away from a lifetime total of $30,000 raised for Movember.
Are you feeling low? You can't brisket any longer - you've gotta reach out to someone and start that conversation. Pardon me if this is a little saucy, or if it dry rubs you in the wrong way, but it is ultimately your responsibility to take care of your mental health. No one is going to come and save the day unless you ask them to. Marinate on that for a little while.
So get off your pork butt, make a counseling appointment, and take care of that mental health!

Thank you SO much to everyone who showed up to support yesterday's assault bike gauntlet and workout for Movember - we raised a whole bunch of bread (over $2000!!!) for an amazing cause. You all really rose to the occasion, and made sure the event wasn't half-baked.
Remember - it's okay to feel crumby. It's how you respond that can have huge impacts on your day, your week, and your life. While you certainly don't need to open up to everyone, when you have close friends in your life that are checking in on you, don't be crusty; pick up the phone and dive deep into those hard conversations. The yeast you can do is start to have candid conversations around the ryesing Epi-demic of men's mental health concerns.

As they mentioned yesterday, we have a lot to taco-bout when it comes to mental health, so here's a picture you can guac at while you take in these awful puns (that hopefully make you go Bajaja). More fun than a carne-val.
I'm a big guy (not a pico gallo), but I still need counseling and good friends to talk to about my struggles. I say a huge BRAVA to all the guys who follow suit. I have spoken to many people - friends, counselor, even my pastor about the many tinga that cause me to be depressed in my life.
Thanks to La Taquisa for an awesome post-assault bike snack!

I spent a lot of my life trying to not Russel any feathers. It wasn't until I started speaking up for my needs and vocalizing my struggles that I really turned a new page in my life. I developed a spine when I gained a voice, which only happened as a consequence of going to therapy. Now, I try to book an appointment regularly, whether I need it or not.
It really was a new chapter in my life when I started counseling, when I started taking responsibility for my own mental health and addressing my short comings. I told myself a lot of stories about who I was, and most of them were completely fictional. Remember - this is not a novel approach; many people are pursuing therapy and counseling. You are not alone.

When you're undertaking a therapeutic approach to your mental health, it's important to train your eyes on the goals that you and your counselor establish. And when you're having the hard conversations with a therapist, it's very important to be honest and not massage the facts to make yourself look more favourable.
Finding your center is a very challenging and very worthwhile thing to do; there are many ways to get there, including a more clinical approach (like seeing a counselor), a spiritual approach, and even tapping into your inner athlete to "exercise the demons".

Huge thanks to the Athlete Center for being such a wonderful supporter of this campaign all the way along. Check out their huge variety of services for all your aches and pains !

A huge Cheers to everyone who has been contributing to the Movember campaign, it's been wonderful and we're closing in on $4,000!
I hope you've enjoyed my collection of puns this year, as well as the promotion of some awesome local businesses. Though you should definitely re-use your textiles, I try not to recycle or re-use any of my puns - fully new and original, every day.
My hope is that this year's outreach for men's mental health and suicide prevention efforts is my best vintage yet; I strive each and every year to expand how I connect with others, and connect people to counselors, communities, and most importantly, to their inner selves. So as this Movember comes to a clothes, get your donations in to an awesome cause.

With 9 days left to go, we're a bit past the halfway point of last year's record breaking amount - let's CRUSH that total!
It's important to build your mental health toolkit from the ground up; don't expect to solve everything in one conversation, in one counselor visit, in one month. For me, I know that the person I have the most beef with is myself. I am learning day by day to be kinder to myself. It may be cheesy, but practicing positive self-talk is one of my strategies for improving my relationship to myself. At first, it took buns of steel to do this because it felt so weird, but it got easier and felt more natural over time.
Remember - what you speak, you reinforce three times. You think it, you say it, and you hear yourself say it. The language you use about yourself has a drastic impact on your self-perception. Be kind to yourself.

I had a big boom of donations and, more importantly, outreach as a consequence of my post from Sunday. Thank you to everyone who reached out - it was very touching.
Please keep in mind that most men are garden their feelings pretty tightly; they take their negative emotions and burritos as deeply as they can because they don't feel safe expressing them. I happen to be a vocal person, and advocate for this cause every year, ramping up the efforts in Movember. Don't forget to reach out to the men in your life, even if they aren't actively calling for help.
Pay attention for small shifts in behaviour. That can be your biggest indication that something is up with someone you know; reach out, check in, and endeavour for conversations that transcend a recounting of the day's events, the weather, sports, etc.

It's important that you know that if you have a bad day... you are not broken. You do not need fixing.
I am saying this as much to myself as I am to you. I do not need to be fixed.
Every day is an opportunity to work with my mental health toolkit. Some days, I'm adding to the kit, developing strategies for when things are feeling low. The past few days, I've been using the tools in that kit.
The hardest part, for me, is continuing to put tools in the kit when things are feeling good. When life feels like it's flowing, you take care of your mental health by keeping up the habits. Keep pursuing counseling. Keep pursuing hard conversations. As my dad says, "You don't fix the roof in the rain."
I mean... you should still fix the roof if it's raining; but you might as well patch up the gaps when the weather is great, right?