5. WHO'S CHECKING ON THE MAN HOLDING EVERYTHING TOGETHER?

[00:00:00] You're listening to the Buttons Up Impact, where awareness becomes action and one conversation can change everything. [00:00:08] Let's make some waves. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to episode five of the Buttons Up Impact podcast. [00:00:16] Last month, we asked a question that hit a lot of you right in the chest. [00:00:21] We asked, who's checking on her? [00:00:24] The woman holding everyone together, the one who keeps saying later. [00:00:30] And the messages I got back, I'm still feeling them. [00:00:34] So today we're turning the camera around because there's someone else in that same house, someone else carrying a weight nobody talks about. And this Men's Health Month, I'm not gonna tiptoe around it. I'm going to say the thing out loud that too many families are scared to say. Who's checking on him? [00:00:56] Who's checking on the man holding everything together? [00:01:01] Now, let me be real with you before we get deep, because we all know how this goes. [00:01:07] A man can rebuild a transmission off three videos and a roll of duct tape. But making one doctor's appointment, suddenly, that's a whole production. He'll climb on the roof in July to fix a shingle nobody asked him to touch. [00:01:23] He'll drive four hours to help a buddy move a couch up three flights of stairs. He'll wait two hours in line for the good barbecue, but 30 minutes for a checkup? Nah, I'm good. He's been good for about 11 years now. He's got a pain he's been keeping an eye on so long it has its own birthday. And every time you ask how he's doing, you get the same two words, I'm fine. We laugh because we've all met him. We've all loved him. Some of you are him. But I need you to hear me, because here's where I stop laughing. [00:02:04] That I'm fine is killing men in this country. And I'm done being polite about it. [00:02:11] Let me paint you a picture. There's a man you know, a husband, a dad, a brother, a son. The guy on your street who shows up with his truck every time somebody needs to move something. [00:02:25] He gets up before everyone else. He makes sure the bills are handled. He fixes what's broken. He's the one everybody calls when something goes wrong. He's the steady one, the strong one, the one who has it handled. And because he's always holding everyone else up, nobody ever stops to ask if he's okay. [00:02:47] He doesn't show it. He doesn't say it. He was taught a long time ago that men don't. So he carries it Quietly. The stress, the fear, the pressure, the worry about money, the worry about his family. The thing the doctor mentioned last time that he never followed up on all of it. Quietly. And he tells everybody the same lie. [00:03:13] I'm good. [00:03:14] Let me say something bold and I mean every word. Strong and okay are not the same thing. [00:03:22] The man holding everyone together is usually the one nobody is holding. And we have all just accepted that. We've decided that's normal. It's not normal. It's dangerous. And it ends today. [00:03:40] This is exactly why this conversation matters right now. Because June is Men's Health Month. A whole month to talk about the one thing men have been trained their entire lives not to talk about. Their health, their bodies, their minds. The checkups they skip the symptoms they bury. The silent battles they fight where nobody can see. And you already know what we believe at Buttons up over awareness isn't enough. Action saves lives. [00:04:11] It is not enough for him to know he should get checked. He has to go. It is not enough to know he's carrying too much. He has to put it down and say it out loud to somebody. Awareness means he knows. Action means he picks up the phone today. [00:04:30] And here's why I'm not softening this. The CDC says men are 33% less likely than women to go to the doctor. Doctor. The Cleveland Clinic found that around 65% of men avoid the doctor for as long as they possibly can. And nearly three out of four men admitted they'd rather do chores than get a checkup. Read that again. He'd rather clean the gutters than save his own life. It gets worse. Men are three times more likely than women to go five years or more without seeing a doctor at all. And on average, men live about five years shorter. Shorter than women. [00:05:12] Five years. Stolen. Just gone. [00:05:16] Now let's talk cancer. Because that's the heart of why Buttons up exists. [00:05:22] About one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. It's the second leading cause of cancer death in men. But here's what nobody tells him. When it's caught early, before it spreads. The five year survival rate is over 99%. [00:05:40] Over 99%. [00:05:42] That's the whole thing right there. The difference between a terrifying phone call and a survivable one is whether he walked in early. [00:05:51] So when a man says, I don't need to go, what he's really doing is gambling with the one thing his whole family is counting on. And I'm calling it what it is. That's not toughness. That's A coin flip with his life. [00:06:06] So let me say this loud enough for the man in the back to hear it. Going to the doctor is not weakness. Getting checked is not weakness. Saying I'm not okay is not weakness. That is the strongest, most grown thing a man can do. Because think about who's counting on you. Your wife, your kids, your parents, your people. You spend your whole life making sure they're taken care of. So answer me this. Who takes care of them if something happens to you that you could have caught early. [00:06:40] Getting checked isn't about fear. It's about being here. Being at the graduation, the wedding, the Sunday dinners, being the granddad who's still around to embarrass everybody. The strongest thing you will ever do for the people you love is make sure you're still standing for them. That's not weakness. That's leadership. That's love. And deep down, you already know it. [00:07:09] And now I want to talk to everybody else who loves him. And I want you to lean in. Because, let's be honest, he's probably not the one who pressed a play on this. You are the wife, the daughter, the sister, the mom, the best friend. You already know he's been keeping an eye on something for too long. [00:07:33] So here's your job. This week, not someday, this week. [00:07:39] Don't nag him, don't lecture him, love him out loud, and refuse to back down. I need you here for a long time. So you're going to go get checked for me. Make the appointment with him. Sit in the waiting room with him. [00:07:58] Bring a pen, because half of what the doctor says, he's not going to remember. And if he's been too quiet lately, carrying something heavy he won't put down, do not let. I'm fine. Be the end of that conversation. Ask him again. [00:08:15] Ask him better. [00:08:17] Sometimes the bravest thing you can do for a strong man is flat out refuse to believe his. I'm fine. [00:08:27] And this is exactly why Buttons up exists. [00:08:30] Every shirt, every hoodie, every bracelet. It's not just something he wears. It's a conversation he carries without having to find the words. [00:08:40] A man walks in wearing stronger than you think, and somebody asks about it. And just like that, the conversation he never would have started on his own starts. [00:08:51] That's the whole point. We put the message on his chest so he doesn't have to break the ice himself. [00:08:57] So go to ButtonsUP IO and grab the latest collection. Wear it. Gift it to the man in your life. Be the reason somebody asks. Because one shirt leads to one Conversation. And one conversation can change everything. [00:09:15] Now, I'm going to talk about something we're building, and I'm going to be straight with you about it. But Buttons Up. Hoops for Hope. Because if there's one place men will show up, let their guard down, and open up, it's on the court. [00:09:30] It's more than basketball. It's brotherhood. It's competition. It's healing. It's cancer awareness. It's action. [00:09:39] 3 on 3 tournament, 3 point contest, free throw challenge, prizes, music, community. [00:09:47] A real way to raise money and awareness for cancer that men can actually feel part of. But let me be honest with you, because this movement runs on honesty. Events like this don't happen on good vibes. They happen on dollars. [00:10:03] So here's my ask, and I'm not gonna dress it up. If this mission means something to you, donate. Go to buttons up IO right now and give what you can. $20, 50, 500, whatever's. [00:10:19] Sponsor a team, sponsor the event. Cover a jersey, cover a prize. [00:10:25] Because every dollar turns into awareness, and awareness turns into a man finally walking into that doctor's office. Your donation might be the reason somebody's husband is still here next year. That's not a slogan. That's the math. [00:10:43] And now I'm going to say something a lot of people are scared to say, but I'm not a lot of people. [00:10:53] To everybody who told me you were going to donate, who said, marshall, count me in. Who shook my hand or sent me a message or stood there and promised and then went quiet. [00:11:05] I see you. [00:11:07] And I'm not coming at you with anger. I'm coming at you with truth. [00:11:12] We are still waiting on that donation. That pledge you made, it wasn't just words to me. It was a man's checkup. It was a jersey on a kid's back. It was a piece of this mission. [00:11:25] So this is me looking you right in the eye. Make good on it today, not next month. Not when things settle down because somebody out there is running out of later. [00:11:39] You said you were in, so be in. Go to Buttonsup IO and finish what you started. I believe in you. That's exactly why I'm holding you to it. [00:11:50] And before we close, I'm talking straight to the man listening right now. The provider. The protector. The fixer. The strong one. The one who's been fine for way too long. [00:12:03] You matter, too. [00:12:05] Not because of what you do for everybody else, just because you're you. [00:12:10] Your health matters. Your mind matters. Your peace matters. Your life matters. The people who love you do not need you to be invincible. They need you here. [00:12:25] So make the appointment. Have the conversation. Say the thing you've been holding in for years. [00:12:31] Let somebody check on you for once. [00:12:33] Because the man who takes care of everyone deserves to be taken care of, too. [00:12:40] If today's conversation hit home, share it. Send it to a man who needs to hear it. Your husband, your dad, your brother, your son, your friend. [00:12:51] Send it to the strong one who never lets anybody check on him. [00:12:55] And while you're there, visit Buttons up IO, explore the episodes, grab the apparel, learn about Hoops for Hope, and donate because the mission needs you, not just your attention. [00:13:09] No downloads needed. Just press play. [00:13:13] Buttons up is more than a brand. It's awareness. It's healing. It's action, it's impact. [00:13:21] And together, we keep the conversation going because awareness starts the conversation, and action saves lives. [00:13:31] Thank you for being here, thank you for listening, and thank you for being part of the Buttons up family. [00:13:38] Now go check on the man holding everything together. [00:13:42] He's been carrying it long enough.