I Want Money, But I Fear Money!

During the first week of the course I’m currently running, one of the participants shared this comment: “I got in touch with my fear of money when I realized I want to have enough money because of this idea that I’ll be free if I achieve that.”

My response was to point out that, of course, you fear money if your freedom depends on whether you have it or not! This is the thing to examine and question if you’re going to unravel this fear.

Is Our Freedom Really Dependent on Money?

Should we really place that much value on having money? The majority of people with lots of money also carry this idea that they’ll be free if they can acquire more money. But it has never worked. No one can evade this truth.

Whether you have just a little money or gobs of it, it’s always our mindset — our relationship with money — that dictates the quality of our life. Just having lots of money doesn’t make us free. It doesn’t free us from our inner critic, from our self-hate, from our lack of compassion for ourselves or others. No amount of money frees us from that.

The Folly of Scarcity

Instead of money, what most people really desire is a sense of peace and love. That’s what we all deserve, right? It’s what we’re all striving for: contentment and purpose. And everyone has access to these qualities at any moment and in any situation.

There truly is zero, Zero, ZERO scarcity of peace, contentment, love and purpose. But the big lie is that there isn’t enough of it. The big lie is that we somehow must have enough money to buy it, work hard to achieve it, or sacrifice to get it.

We may think that one day, when we have enough money, we’ll have it all. Having it all means different things to different people, but may include the right guy (or woman), the right house, the right clothes, the right job or whatever. Only then can we really love ourselves. This is patently false because that lie still follows people who have money.

Having More Money Isn’t the Answer

This scarcity mindset isn’t true for everybody, however. There are people with plenty of money who feel abundant and generous. And there are people without much money who feel abundant and generous. The amount of money one has doesn’t determine our tendency to exhibit these qualities.

But I’d say the predominant story in this world is the opposite. Whether we’re poor or rich, this feeling of scarcity permeates our society in every 1^st world city, town and village. As a result, people who have money end up:

• Holding on to it
• Hoarding it
• Never feeling like they have enough
• Wanting more and more
• Never sharing

These people fear not having money just the same as those who have nothing! The number in our bank account doesn’t change this. Just as the slave fears his master, many of us fear money. And yes, that’s an apt metaphor.

Adjust Our Thinking

To change our situation, we must let go of the mentality that instills a fear of scarcity. We have to face our feelings of inadequacy in this moment. No matter how much money we have, we can do this. Right now!

How can we replenish our attitude of abundance? How can we give ourselves what we truly feel a lack of? It’s always available to us. To turn and face down this feeling of poverty is a way to love ourselves, to feel compassion for ourselves. We’ll come alive. We’ll get more in sync; hence, more synchronicities happen.

Let’s Enjoy Our Life Instead of Worrying about It

Then we can focus on what tasks we actually need to do to achieve what we want. Money doesn’t just fall from the sky, and things we want don’t just come to us without first putting something out there. Sometimes things seem like they’ve just fallen into our lap, but, in fact, it’s because of some attention or focus we’ve put out there first. If we surrender our feeling of scarcity and hold a space for something to enter, it often comes to us.

There are tangible, outward-directed steps to take to get more money, to sell our work, to be doing the things we want to be doing with each moment. But we can only face these tasks with the attitude of surrender, when our worth and love isn’t dependent on achieving success. This insight frees us, bringing us the peace we so desire in ourselves… and hence, the world.