Fatherhood

850 push-ups later

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We have reached the middle of the month. That means I have completed 850 of my goal of 1500 push-ups, and over half way through this years campaigns to push for a change in men’s health. I am really grateful for all the support as I tackle this challenge.

The pushups are for me and and my personal quest for a healthier life. Since my divorce, and even prior, I have face some serious ups and downs. It has not been easy and my health has suffered. Finding my why with raising my two boys kept me from sliding too into the gutter, but it was not easy and it was not smooth. Today I fight the time required to properly prepare meals, often choosing something simple and quick over something healthier. As a result, my Cholesterol is high and in serious need of attention even as my blood pressure and BMI appears solid. Like so many of the mental and emotional issues I faced, this one appears to be under the surface, not readily visible to my friends and family, and easily ignored even by me. However, like those emotional issues it will raise its head if it is not addressed with intention.

Thus, for me the daily-50 is my way of forming a discipline around a healthier lifestyle. One that I am looking to expand to eating habits and some other exercise routines.

I am also looking to bring awareness and funding to a larger cause. So throughout the month I have been growing my mustache and raising money for the Movember Foundation. Please join me in raising money for cancer research and suicide prevention – with you, we can make a difference.

The Movember Foundation (movember.com) continues to make an impact, funding projects and clinical studies as they search for cures to Prostate and Testicular cancer and improvement in mental health.

Learn more about Movember or about my push-up challenge (2019) at stilldaddy.net/movember.

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Pushing for awareness

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Globally, the rate of suicide is alarmingly high, particularly in men. Too many men are trying to ‘tough it out’.  Keeping their feelings to themselves and struggling in silence.  Way to often this only leads to a greater sense of failure and further into depression.  It is a snowball that leads down a horrific route.  The Movember Foundation is aiming to reduce the rate of male suicide by 25% by 2030, and I am pushing to help get them there.

In addition to basic awareness and my mighty mo, I am also pledging to complete 50 push-ups daily throughout the month.  With additional push-up for those donations exceeding $50.  

Last year I raised over $650 and completed a whopping 3400 pushup in just over two months.  This year I have set the bar higher with a minimum of 1500 push ups and a donation goal of $1500 – all during November.  Please support the Movember team by supporting a Mo growing Bro, and lets change the face of men’s health together.

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In additional to mental health, the Movember Foundation also supports research and assistants to prostate and testicular cancers, as well as other men’s health programs.  Read more at: Movember Foundation

Together, let’s get men the help they need.

 

Divorce, Fatherhood

Happy

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What is “happy”? What does it mean? Is it a good job? A perfect relationship? 2.1 kids? There are a lot of books, movies and media posts on ways to make you happy. I think for each of us we find it in different ways. Happiness comes from inside. It is the spark that ignites your core getting you up and moving in the day.

For me, happiness seems to be found within the struggle. In the effort itself. Frustration and setbacks are all part of my happiness soup. I excite in the challenge, and even in the pain. I find I am not one to give in, but keep pushing forward on whatever mission I have set myself.

One might think it is the reward that I chase. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I can’t deny that I enjoy seeing things accomplished and receiving praise for a job well done. However, I also shy away from the recognition. Even become self conscious when called out. All the while, I find myself nit-picking the final product, seeing that the end result is not really the end. Endlessly trying to smooth out the rough edges and continue on my quest. You might call it OCD, but I take too many shortcuts for that to really be the case.

Then, when all work is done, I can relax. I rest and enjoy the company of family and friends. Yet in the rest I find myself restless, itching to get “doing” something. Get on with my next mission. Taking a day off and “doing nothing” is hard. I get bored.

I saw this when I was visiting my parents this summer. I enjoyed working on the house and digging in the dirt as much as I did playing on the water. I found it again this weekend while working on my house. I reveled in the frustrations and challenges I was presented with. I see it at work, during the moments of high tension and frustration – I find myself most alive.

I was asked recently if I was happy. Like everyone, the answer is “sometimes”. Right now I feel I am in search of my next mission. The next major challenge.

I see many around me, but which one will mold me? Making me bigger, stronger, faster? Which one will light the fires of my passion? Truth is, most of them will.

It is time to just start down that path of happiness.