How do I know if choosing celibacy is right for me or just fear of intimacy?

Mirabai spent years examining her own heart before she could tell the difference. Fear whispers and contracts. It says 'I can't.' Choice, even celibate choice, has a different texture—it opens something in you, even as it says no to one thing. Ask yourself: Am I saying no to avoid pain, or am I saying yes to something that calls me more deeply? Fear keeps you small and reactive. A genuine choice, even a difficult one, usually leaves you feeling more alive, more yourself. You might grieve what you're not choosing—that's real and okay. But there's an aliveness underneath. The examined heart knows the difference. Sit with this question for weeks, not hours. Talk to someone who knows you and won't tell you what you 'should' do. Notice what comes up when you imagine a life without sexual partnership, and another life with it. Neither answer is wrong. The point is to choose from clarity, not escape.