Anxiety. We all feel it from time to time. But for some people, anxiety can become overwhelming to the point that if affects our daily functioning. Some people experience anxiety to the point of debilitating panic attacks, usually because of some internal or external trigger.

For some people, the fear of the panic attack alone can leave us paralyzed to the point where we cannot go to work or school, we cannot drive, we cannot leave the house. For some people, the fear of impending doom that comes with a panic attack can leave one feeling that she is going to go crazy or lose control, pass out or even die from cardiac arrest. Panic attacks can leave us feeling embarrassed and as if we are failures for not being able to control our feelings.

But what if, instead of fighting the panic attack, we leaned into it? What if we welcomed the panic attack? What if instead of fighting the feelings of anxiety, we acknowledged them, owned them? What if we took just a moment to try to determine what triggered those feelings? It is more likely that not that if we accept the feelings of anxiety and the panic attack, it will dissipate more quickly than if we fight those feelings.

So often, those who live with debilitating anxiety feel as though they are weak or a failure for experiencing a panic attack. But we are only human, and we are entitled to our feelings. Anxiety is just a feeling, at times crippling, yes, but still just a feeling. Think for a moment about your coping skills. What do you usually do to calm yourself? What have you done in the past to survive the panic attack? Whatever it is, do that again. Give yourself permission to take care of yourself when you are inside the panic attack. What can you do to make yourself feel better? What are your coping skills?

So many of us forget when we are in the midst of panic that we have survived this feeling before. Indeed, our rate of surviving a panic attack likely is 100 percent. The likelihood that the panic attack will in fact lead to cardiac arrest is slight.

It is important to understand that your feelings of anxiety and panic are valid. Something internal or external triggered those feelings. Can you take a moment to examine what is happening around you to trigger those feelings? If you can, I guarantee you that you can quiet those feelings. It is at that moment when you have determined the cause of your feelings that you can begin to employ your coping skills, be it listening to music, repeating a helpful mantra in your head, going for a walk if your neighborhood is safe, running or working out or watching a movie.

Often when we are inside the feelings, we forget our breathing. In the midst of a panic attack, we tend to feed it by breathing faster and faster, which in turn increases our heart rate and the feelings that we are going to have a heart attack. Instead, perhaps try to practice deep breathing, taking long slow breathes in through your nose and out through your mouth. I like to do so while repeating to myself “easy” on the inhale and “calm” on the exhale. It soothes me.

Feelings of anxiety are in fact just that: feelings. We can choose to feel differently about any given situation. We can choose how we react to a trigger. For instance, instead of working yourself into a frenzy by expecting the worst about an activity or situation, think to yourself, “What is the worst that can happen?” Likely, whatever it is will not kill you. It may well make you feel uncomfortable, but the chances that you are going to die are slim. What is the worst that can happen? Prepare yourself for that and you can embrace what comes your way instead of fighting it.

We make thousands of decisions every day. Indeed, life is a series of choices. You choose how you are going to react to any given situation. You can choose to embrace the fact that some things will make you feel anxious. And sometimes, that is a good thing. To some extent, anxiety protects us from harmful situations. But you can choose to feed that anxiety but what-iffing it to death or you can accept the situation as it is, embrace the fact that you feel anxious and work through those feelings. It only takes a few moments to determine what it is exactly about any given situation that leaves you feeling anxious to choose what to do with that anxiety. Fight it and likely suffer a panic attack or embrace your feelings, deal with them and move on.

It sounds easy, yes? For some people it is, for others more help is needed. This is where medications come in. There is nothing wrong with accepting the fact that medication may be needed to temper the feelings of anxiety and panic. But before taking any medication it is imperative that you talk with your doctor or psychiatrist about what you have been feeling, how you have tried to manage those feelings and how medication may or may not help you. Taking medication for anxiety and panic does not mean that you are weak or that you are a failure. It simply means that you need a little bit more help. And it takes more courage to seek help than it does to suffer in silence.

You can choose to lean into the anxiety or you can choose to fight it. Accept your feelings and move on or dwell in them and feel miserable. Life is a series of choices. You can start to make better choices or you can continue to practice the same behaviors you have been practicing and stay comfortably uncomfortable. Your life and how you experience it is entirely up to you.