Cyndi's Two Cents

Get your ya-ya’s out!

Commentary.

Spring is finally here for real and farmers across the Corn Belt have been farming like nobody’s business. Driving from mid-Missouri to central Illinois early last week, I saw a tractor in nearly every field I passed. In cow country, the pastures are greening up and bale forks have been set aside. After a long and some, including me, might say “mean” winter, the growing season has begun in earnest.

As I pen this column, the dark clouds are moving in and I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance. Although we could use a couple more days without rain to finish planting and other field work, the thirsty earth can use a drink and those who have been farming like nobody’s business can use a break.

For many, farming is as much a way of life as it is a business. There are many positive aspects that go along with living and working on a family farm, but there is also a downside. It is almost impossible to get away from work unless you pile in the truck and drive away. Far away. If you go to church, a local restaurant, grocery store or the post office, someone is going to strike up a conversation about corn planting or calving.

Butchers, bakers, candlestick makers and farmers all need to take time to escape the daily responsibilities of their career of choice. Doing so is good for both physical and mental health.

When Tom Steever came to interview for a spot on the Brownfield Ag News broadcast team more than a decade ago, he asked me if I would allow him to do continue some freelance work with an agricultural television network. He told me that he is a much more productive employee when he can “get his TV ya-ya’s out.”

An online urban dictionary defines “getting your ya-ya’s out” this way: To escape the life dramas that wear on your soul. To be fearless and get through the nonsense life gives you. Experience moments of clarity, beauty, inspiration and hope that everything will be alright.

I am of the opinion that a little more clarity and hope in my life and the lives of those around me can only be a good thing!

Few of us have the luxury to be able to go running off to escape life dramas at every whipstitch, so we need to create our own diversion from the stress of our life’s work. It might be as simple as sitting down under a shade tree with a favorite book and an ice cold Pepsi or thinking about those things that make you laugh out loud. (The fact that a large group of baboons is called a congress cracks me up.)

For some its poetry, for others, power tools. Many believe they don’t have time to “take 5”- but that 5 can help prevent an accident, save you from a heart attack, or simply make you a whole lot more fun to be with!

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