{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Sloth & Fear","description":"Every day. Every single day. ----- A friend told me that every day waiting for us at the foot of our bed is sloth and fear. Our eyes open, our brain turns on, and sloth and fear are right there. On the bed. Waiting. Our first challenge every day is to get past them. And she\u2019s not wrong. Sloth and fear work together. They\u2019re different mental states but they support each other. I\u2019m afraid of what might happen today or sometime in the future so I won\u2019t move, I\u2019ll stay right here in bed. It\u2019s predictable here, we say. And the longer I stay here, the more afraid I become of what may happen. Sloth and fear. We try to leave them behind but they\u2019ve never far. Sloth is not as much my problem as is fear. For twenty plus years I\u2019ve been a small business owner and when I began my work many many years ago I assumed that at some point the business will become automatic and at some point it will run on momentum and at some point I won\u2019t have to worry about where the next client, the next bit of revenue, will come from. Well, it\u2019s been twenty plus years, and I worry about it every single day, even on weekends. I didn\u2019t know it at the time, but it\u2019s what I signed up for. And the temptation to call it quits and find a job is always there. Give it to someone else worry about where the customers will come from. Let someone else worry about revenue and pay estimated taxes and make payroll and all that. The idea has a strong appeal. However, I know deep down inside that I\u2019d be miserable. I\u2019d want to make my own decisions, chart my own course, take the calculated risks I deem appropriate to grow the company. I don\u2019t do well working for others and I have a number of former employers who would nod enthusiastically in agreement. A vendor? A contractor? A consultant? Yes. I\u2019m very good in those roles. An employee? Not good at all. But I sure wish I could get the fear to go away. It\u2019s the worry over uncertainty. My wife always reminds me that every year I have the same concerns and every year everything\u2019s worked out. My response is always the same \u2013 Yeah, but that was last year. Just because good things have happened in the past doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019ll happen again now or in the future. So, I worry. It\u2019s worse some days than others. A quick Google search says there are 365 instances in the Bible where the message is to not be afraid. I guess God knew it would need repeating. But saying that I shouldn\u2019t be afraid or worry and not being afraid or worried are very different. Even the Buddha says that the path to enlightenment will leave all fear behind. Sure sounds nice. Maybe it\u2019s all something I should look into. If I could just muster the courage to get out of bed. I\u2019m Cam Marston and I\u2019m just trying to Keep it Real. ","author_name":"Keepin' It Real with Cam Marston","author_url":"https:\/\/cammarston.com\/keepin-it-real-with-cam-marston\/","html":"