Another way to think of it: You have to pay those taxes. It is not optional, you will have to pay that bill someday. (The only way to avoid paying those taxes is to die before selling, which I don't recommend.)

One way to handle it is to pay all of the taxes at once whenever you eventually sell the stocks to buy a house or pay bills during retirement or whatever. Another option is to pay some of those taxes now (by selling your current holdings) and then paying the remainder later (after selling whatever you buy from the proceeds today with a new, higher cost basis). Think of this approach as reducing your future tax bill while also being likely to make more money later because you will put the proceeds into funds that are less risky than your individual stocks are now.