Stress
By and large, the stress you face as a stonemason is physical in nature. You're going to be working eight to ten hours a day, five to six days a week, for most of the next twenty-five to thirty years. It may not affect you immediately, but over time, you will definitely start to notice, until―like a dam with a tiny crack that turns into a massive, gushing stream of pain―your body becomes a human-shaped pile of knots and sprains (more on that in the next section).
Other stresses will occasionally pop up that have nothing to do with the condition of your body. If you're out doing work at a construction site, there is likely both a deadline and a person nagging you to stick to the deadline.
You never know when the client might show up and freak out that the limestone doesn't line up to the perfect 55-degree angle on the blueprints (even if it totally does). Some homeowners may make you feel like your own skull is being smashed with a hammer. Thankfully, the power tools you use make enough noise to drown out even the whiniest voice.