1. You feel fully present and alive. It's an 'all systems go' kind of feeling. You seem to know exactly what's going on in every cell of your body. Your senses are sharp and alert to everything going on around you.

2. There is a complete absence of fear or guilt. When you feel guilt, you are focused on past; when you feel fear, you are focused on future. This moment, one right here, you can handle this one.

3. What you do feel is a sense of calm and focus. Even with 'all systems go' as described above, you feel connected to your wisdom.

I've often wondered about this phenomenon and there are probably as many reasons for this as there are people. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of disappointment, actually, a whole bunch of fears. And when goal is in sight, you can be pretty sure it's a fear of SOMETHING that stops you from taking those last few steps.

A fear that has come into play several times in my life, surprisingly enough, is fear of Forever! That is a word that has frightened me more often than I care to admit. There is something so final about forever that it scares living daylights out of me.

What if I make a wrong choice? What if I continue to grow and change, and I don't like what I've chosen today? What if I go this way and miss something incredibly wonderful over that way? This seems such a silly thing to be afraid of, and yet it can paralyze one for a very long time.

I remember a time when it hit me (the proverbial lightning bolt of understanding) that something that was holding me up from allowing a relationship in my life was fact that I was committed to self-exploration, growth and development. I felt that I was constantly changing and was afraid that a relationship that I committed to today wouldn't be right one in one year, five years, ten years.