For most of my life I had been able to control my fear. Then one day, seemingly out of the blue, I had my first panic attack. For those who haven't had one, they can best be described by the phrase 'you think you are going to die'. If it persists for long enough, you start to think death might be a preferable alternative in order to free yourself from the agony of being in a panic about it. Then there was a paradigm shift that loosened the panic attack's stronghold. The book 'Don't Panic' (funny name, right?) called out these panic attacks for what they were -- fear of being afraid. When you realize that the best way to deal with it is to try and let the fear be present, the panic loses a lot of its power. But why was I so afraid in the first place? That's where counseling came in. My counselor, Mark LaFluer, opened my eyes to a hidden world when I first came in to see him. After hearing a brief synopsis of my story, he retorted with...