This is sort of a continuation of a recent blog posted here entitled "To Those Chocolate Ones." I would suggest you read that piece before continuing, unless you have already done so.

I was home with the flu today, and decided to watch a little tv...just in time to catch the Tyra Banks show. There were 6 African American women on the panel, and they all bleach their skin so they can be lighter. Many voiced that they did so because they feel that being light can help you get ahead in life. All had been teased by kids in school, and each witnessed how light skinned girls in their classes were always picked first over the dark skinned girls. Still for others, they bleach because of all the attention they see lighter women get from men.

I have come to realize that fear is a strong emotion...and life's greatest obstacle. Fear is an emotion I know all too well...I've dealt with it all my life. Fear of heights, fear of dying, fear of living, fear of failure, fear of success, etc. You name it, I've feared it.

Every decision we make, and every action we take, is born out of one of two emotions: fear or love. Fear based decisions cause us to do things we really don't want to do. We know this because in hindsight, we don't truly feel good about the decision we've just made. And why do something you don't feel good about?

All my life, I've made decisions out of fear. And those decisions have been very costly. Most of this is related to my career. As a child of about 9, I started sewing...mind you, no one in my family ever sewed. It was just something that came naturally to me, and I loved it! Since then, I've always known I wanted to be a designer. But because of my fears of failure/poverty/just not being good enough, I have delayed my dreams of entrepreneurship time and time again. What have I chosen instead? To keep doing the same boring, creativity-stifling corporate crap I've been doing for the last 10 yrs.