Fear is a choice.Oddly, a recurring topic that I kept reading about, hearing about and talking about this week was FEAR.I suppose if 2020 has any sort of underlying running narrative, you have to admit that "fear" plays an integral part in it across the board.Hell, fear has played such a large role in our lives this year that the upcoming Shark Week, once the bastion of summertime fear mongering, just seems so contrived and quaint. Like oh....there's a mean looking shark....with big gnarly teeth.....yeah, well Rona don't care about no sharks.....But I digress....With schools and businesses reopening, Fall right around the corner, concerns about a COVID second wave, unemployment still prominent, political and social unrest, etc., people have a lot to fear these days.Some long time FoDs may recall reading my thoughts about fear in business a few years back, discussed in the context of the YouTube TV series, and Karate Kid spin off, "Cobra Kai". FYI, it was recently announced that the show will be coming to its new home on Netflix in August -- my recommendation stands.Regarding the topic of fear, I will remind everyone: fear is not real.Fear is an emotion that is triggered by our thoughts of what could happen. We create fear in our minds due to ambiguity and lack of trusted information and we make a choice to buy into it. Most often, that distortion and choice leads to us perceive danger -- even when there might not be any.Honestly, it's easy to choose to live in fear. What we can do to combat this, however, is question the thoughts that trigger our fears.For example, we may say "By going back to school this Fall, I am afraid my kids will catch COVID-19 and someone I love might die" or "If I wear a mask in public, I am giving up my personal freedom, and I am afraid if I comply more of my freedom will be taken away from me as a result." What makes us think this way?If we don't want to be fearful, we cannot succumb to distorted thoughts. That said, we can't simply ignore them either. Make an effort to challenge them. See if there is real danger. Ask questions. Analyze options. Look at trusted facts and insights from trusted experts. Demand solid answers. Ignore propaganda or biased messages that are there simply to stoke fear. We collectively need to make choices not based on fear, but on reason.FYI: we may still come to the same conclusion (like, because I cannot get good answers to my questions, I feel sending my kids to school puts my family in danger), but it won't be based on a response to an emotion. Ultimately, we have to decide how we want to live.Here is an excellent clip from an otherwise mediocre movie by Will Smith called "After Earth" that effectively explains this idea >> WATCH HERE <<Fear is a choice. We are all telling ourselves a story. What kind of story do you want yours to be?Along those lines....you know what really terrifies me? Creepy pictures of kids in creepy old ads......besides that (and maybe the clown hotel story), I promise all of the other selections should make you feel safe this week, Friends. Enjoy.XOXODave