I get that same feeling by typing 'uptime' in a terminal window.
I mentioned to a WinXP using friend of mine, and fellow computer geek, that my current uptime was about 11 days, and he asked me if why I was sadistically torturing my OS! Oh, and this after he said that he was proud that while he had 5 or 6 apps open, and a virus update/patch thing 'snuck up' on him, his computer lagged horribly, but did not crash or BSoD! BTW, he has a $1500 2.7Ghz something or other laptop.
Odd that if I don't have like 10 apps running at once, I feel like I'm underperforming!
Loving my Mac!