My props to the farmers. I have never been associated with a farm so I could never really understand those aching muscles and sheer physical payload day in and day out. I will argue this, however:

Mental/cerebral strain is just as draining as physical strain.

What is the difference between pulling, planting, bending, lifting, hoisting, throwing and rapid fire decision making, subtle manipulation, calculating, problem recognition and problem solving, and other mentally draining tasks.

Sort of like one of my coworkers. He can fix the car, but I can fix the copier. You would not want me fixing the car and he should just leave the copier alone.

And needing to do fifty million things in one day while only having time to do twently million things will put some spring in your step.

And for those who asked, check out pooper-scooper.com. It is legit...

I hear you.

Though sometimes in order to function in our environments we have to move at the same speed as the rest of the herd or get trampled.

But that doesn't mean we have to mentally miss out on life because of the physical rushing about.

I remember an old quote but I can't remember the source.

"Before a man becomes enlightened;
he rises in the morning,
eats his breakfast,
works in the field,
comes home in the evening,
eats his supper,
makes love to his wife,
and goes to sleep.

After a man becomes enlightened;
he rises in the morning,
eats his breakfast,
works in the field,
comes home in the evening,
eats his supper,
makes love to his wife,
and goes to sleep.

It's not so much what you do as HOW you do what you do.

Sitting in traffic can be a good time to practice a little slowing down and being mindful of things (the pattern of gravel in the road way, the light reflecting off of the cars and signs around us, the feel of my feet on the brake...)

I've stopped driving with my radio on so I can better pay attention to the world around me. This very well may be the last time I ever drive anywhere (zipped enough people into body bags in my career), and I don't want to miss anything no matter how small and insignificant.

Ever tried eating a bag of M&M's one at a time?

It's an interesting exercise.

My FIL works installing replacing auto glass so hes always lifting and cutting the seals and working in the rain and cold and heat and says I'm lucky to have a job like mine but I can't make him understand that the mental work I do is just as hard and stressfull but in a different way.

You really should learn how to fix a car, you never know when you might need the skill. I've stopped a couple times to help out people who always paid someone else to work on their cars even down to changing thr oil and I've been able to open the hood and fix their problem and get them on their way. One was at a rest stop and thie lady and her son were walking back and forth from the car to the water fountain getting paper cups of water to pour in the radiator as a tiny hose that let coolant flow around the intake to warm the air entering the throttle body and it was leaking. I ended up having a small length of hose in my tool kit which fit and got them on their way.

Yep, I think that is a big part of it. Anymore a farmer has to be a part time vet, chemist, metallurgist, botanist, entymologist, accountant, and speak more than one language.

But for the rest of us poor sods, sitting at the desk flogging on the chiclets and staring at the increasingly smaller fine print can create some real problems.

I know that when I am trying to build a monster schedule in a tight deadline, it gets to the point after 5 or 6 thousand lines of code where I just about can't sit still anymore. It is odd how twitchy and knotted up I can get from just sitting here trying to think as fast as possible. One of my most undesirable sensations indeed. My breathing even gets erratic, I tend to hold my breath when my rate of work goes to full-tilt-bozo mode.