What is your favorite thing about being a shepherd

There are a lot of things I enjoy about being a shepherd as well as many things that i dont enjoy. The job has a lot of benefits. I am very in touch with my thoughts, i am outside everyday all day. I am my own boss. I hang out with my dogs non stop. I get fresh organic goat milk in abundance. Almost everyone stops and does a double take when i tell them what i do for a living. They love it. It has opened up.many opportunities for me. Opportunities that most people dont seem to get. I regularly have people offering for me to move to their town and to grab a piece of land. I did that in the town i live in. Mostly everyone i come across is supportive of me and what i have done. Several people before me have been kicked off of the piece of land i currently live on. I have been here a year and a half. Didnt really ask anyone if i could set up shop there. Just did it with the help of a friend. I think the main reason for that success is my job, lifestyle. Most people deeply value the work i do both on a practical level and a spiritual one. Thats the best way to conquer this land they say. You must be really close with god they say. Youre a shepherd? Like king david? I dont know if im like him i say. Never met him. Youre living the dream. Yeah, i say. Thanks

As beneficial as it has been for me, it has been equally as difficult. Its a huge responsibility. The goats eat for 8 hours in a day and then i wake up the next morning and they are screaming at me like the world is ending. The world isn't ending i need to remind myself. But i gotta get them some food. They arent nice, they dont say thank you, and all they care about is food. All day every day. And they cant take care of themselves. And its muddy in the stable. Not regular mud. Poop mud. And i have to go in there all the time. And they get wounds that get infected that i have to take care of. And they get fleas which can take over the stable. Nightmare. And they dont stop pooping. And they dont stop walking and its hot out there and i have to conquer my seething anger sometimes or else i will hit a goat a little bit too hard with my stick and break her leg and she will eventually die. True story. They are constantly testing my anger. Forcing me to grow closer go god so that i can conquer that anger. Grow closer to god or fail as a shepherd. Give up. And get used to a life where i tell people i used to have a flock. How great it was. The glory days. And i haven't figured out the financial side either. All day shepherding every day. That doesnt pay. Not conventially at least. I could sell the milk, the meat. But i refuse to overwork myself. I want to hang out with my friends after a full day of work. I dont want to work more. I cant afford to burn myself out. The flock has to go out to pasture tomorrow. I need to preserve energy. Not wear myself out. But i know it is good for me. All of this.

That is the best part. That i know it is good for me and will be worth it. It already has been worth it. But i havent made it yet to the finish line. All these difficulties make every thing else so much easier. Because my job is so difficult, not much else really is. I have the tools i need to deal with life's challenges. And i have learned them in the field. The shepherding is the workout. Adding plates to a bench press and maxing out. Holding it as long as you can and then some. Once you take off the weights everything else is light. You cant touch me. Bring it on. Thank you goats.