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This is Part 5 of 7 in a series of blog posts related to the book Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear (CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE).

In previous posts in this series, I have shared how my life was turned upside down by anxiety and panic attacks, with the many cumbersome physical and emotional effects that went along with them. While I desperately wanted to rid myself of the attacks and constant state of uneasiness, it was revealed to me that the anxiety and panic were symptoms of something else deep inside of me. If that deep-rooted issue was not resolved, I could only temporarily mask the symptoms, at best.

I was surprised to find out that I had been believing lies that were directly impacting the anxiety and panic attacks that had overwhelmed me. After surrendering my efforts to fix or control the symptoms, my flawed beliefs began to be revealed through an authentic relationship with a trusted friend. God used the safe place created in that friendship to drag the lies out into the open so we could address them together.

God showed me that how I viewed Him was not an accurate portrayal of who He really was. He also revealed that, when I looked in the mirror, I saw something different than what He saw in me. Those core misbeliefs bled over into everything in my life, distorting my perception of everything, and influencing all my thoughts, behaviors, and emotions in a bad way. The panic attacks and anxiety were just the tip of the iceberg.

As the lies were revealed, truths were also discovered. These precious truths not only challenged the lies I had believed for so long, they also motivated me to act. God led me into opportunities in which I could face my fears, fighting the lies and embracing His truth. Through those awesome new experiences, everything began to change. Faith was put into action, and the panic began to lose its grip on me.

To learn more details of my journey, please pick up a copy of my book that tells the whole story, Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear. It is available for purchase here: Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear (click here to purchase your copy). 

We are offering a little promotion in order to get a copy of this story into the hands of others who might benefit from reading it. Email me to let me know if you purchase two or more copies of the book (one for you and others to pass on to friends). We will send you the Bonus Chapter of Panic to Peace, not included in the book.

Also, please subscribe to my email list below, if you’ve not already:

This is Part 4 of 7 in a series of blog posts about the book Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear (CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE).

Prior parts of this blog series revealed that years ago I was faced with an exhausting battle with panic attacks and anxiety. I struggled for quite a while before I decided to surrender my efforts to avoid my fears and find a fix for the debilitating symptoms I experienced. Such a decision may sound completely counter-intuitive. When we have a problem, we want to fix it…especially when that problem is making our life miserable. My problem was definitely doing that! However, the consistent lack of getting anywhere with my ploys to gain control of the situation caused me to consider a surrender. And that’s what I did.

Surrendering control over my life (or the control I thought I had) led me down a very different path. It was unknown and scary. I had run from things, out of fear, my entire life. I did not know where I was headed and needed a guide. Thankfully, God provided me with someone to walk with me as I figured things out. It was very hard to let down my guard and reach out to someone, but after a failed, long, and grueling battle to maintain control myself, I was ready.

My perspective of everything in my life was challenged. I was shocked as I began to see that the anxiety and panic attacks were only the tip of the iceberg. Deep inside me, beyond the dizziness, heart palpitations, and sleepless nights, was the root of my problem. That “root” is what needed to be addressed in order for me to find the freedom I craved.

I was faced with having to consider that many of the assumptions I held about important aspects of my life were wrong. The main two things that affected everything else were the way I viewed myself and the way I viewed God. In short, my beliefs were not as rock solid as I thought. I thought I knew some “right answers”, but I had actually believed and acted on lies without even knowing it. The anxious existence I had come to know was a direct result of those lies. God was not who I thought He was, and I wasn’t either.

In the next post of this series, I will share what began to take place as the issues with my beliefs were uncovered. To get more insight into my story, please pick up a copy of my book, Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear (click here to purchase your copy). 

We are offering a little promotion in order to get a copy of this story into the hands of others who might benefit from reading it. Email me to let me know if you purchase two or more copies of the book (one for you and others to pass on to friends). We will send you the Bonus Chapter of Panic to Peace, not included in the book.

Also, please subscribe to my email list below, if you’ve not already:

This is Part 3 of 7 in a series of blog posts about the book Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear (CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE).

In previous parts of this series, I shared about the panic attacks and anxiety that I began experiencing years ago. I had no idea at the time that what I was going through was merely symptoms of hidden issues. I had been carrying the immense weight of shame and fear for a very long time, which had finally gotten the best of me. But I did not want to face any of that!

I struggled, for what seemed like an eternity, with the symptoms of anxiety. With fear in complete control of my life, I was miserable almost all of the time. There seemed to be no break from the heart palpitations, shakiness, lightheadedness, and general uneasiness I felt around others. On top of it all, the frightening panic attacks were increasing in frequency and severity.

I was in need of some kind of solution. I desperately wanted to feel better. Countless hours were spent researching possible diagnoses and cures. I searched the internet for possible illnesses that might explain the symptoms I was experiencing, along with suggested treatments. I read self-help books and sought the advice of others, which consisted of anyone who had advice they were willing to give. I was flooded with possible fixes.

After a long while of hoping the answer would be around the next corner, I was consistently faced with three choices. First, I could just give up, which I wanted to do many times. In those moments, I felt hopeless and sometimes furious at God for either making me miserable, or passively allowing me to be. I was not sure which one it was, but I was sure He was responsible somehow for my condition. The second option that kept presenting itself was to try harder. I would try harder to find a fix, or to somehow appease God so He would fix it. I always wound up back at option one, frustrated and feeling hopeless after my efforts were fruitless.

The final option was one that came after much time spent on gravitating between giving up and trying harder. It’s one word, but there was a lot wrapped up in it for me. This choice was to finally “surrender”. Surrendering my efforts to fix the problem myself was only the beginning, and that sounded absolutely, horrifyingly crazy to me. It sounded a lot like “giving up”, which I had tried before. However, “surrendering” turned out to be much different. There was much more to surrender than I had ever imagined when I reached the point of being willing to truly consider it.

I will continue sharing my portions of my journey through fear, anxiety, and panic attacks here on my blog for the next several weeks. To get more insight into my story, please pick up a copy of my book here: Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear.

Don’t forget to email me if you purchase two or more copies of the book, so I can send you the Bonus Chapter of Panic to Peace, not included in the book. These will be going out shortly! And, if you would like, please subscribe to my email list below:

This is Part 2 of 7 in a series of blog posts about the book Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear (CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE).

I shared with you in the first part of this series that, over a decade ago, intense anxiety and accompanying panic attacks took over my life. I lived in a constant state of fear, sometimes paralyzed by it. There was no escape, as the anxiety weighed me down both day and night.

That was not the true beginning of my story of fear. I thought it was at the time, as I could not remember ever really experiencing anything like it before. However, I was eventually made aware that the feelings I was suffering with were the result of something that had been snowballing for years. Although the root problem had been with me for a very long time, it had remained hidden for the most part, not causing enough trouble to get my attention until I had my first panic attack.

My journey exposed me to some information that surprised me. I had actually been living in fear for as long as I could remember. There were some key events along the way that fed my fears, but I had found ways to cover them up. The problem with covering up fears is the harder you try to suppress them, the bigger bang they make when the damage they do inside of us is finally unleashed.

Many of the events in my life that ignited my fears fueled something else that was very damaging to me: shame. Behind all of my fears, I discovered I believed deep down that there was something inherently wrong with me. I did not like myself very much. That’s actually an understatement. Not only did I dodge my fears, I also hid my face behind a mask. The mixture of shame and fear that I carried with me through life was an internal storm that I did not even know was brewing.

If I was ever going to be set free from the symptoms of panic and anxiety, something would have to be done about the shame. Also, I would have to learn how to deal with my fears in a healthy way, rather than the tricks I had been using to work around them. However, before any of that could take place, I would have to make the very difficult choice to face whatever was behind the horrible symptoms that were controlling my life. I will discuss that part of my story in the next blog post in this series.

In the book, Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear, I share the full story regarding the panic attacks and anxiety that engulfed my life. My hope is that it will find its way into the hands of those of you who can benefit from reading about what God did in my life. Please get your copy here: Panic to Peace: Living Free from the Grip of Fear.

Don’t forget to email me if you purchase two or more copies of the book, so I can send you the Bonus Chapter of Panic to Peace, not included in the book. These will be going out shortly! And subscribe to my email list below: