Theres that old saying, Money is the root of all evil. But truly, money is valueless. Like so much else in life, it only has the meaning we give it. If you experience fear about money, regardless of how much you have or how much you need, its possible that your fear is rooted in something much deeper.

Money is a form of energy.

Thats it. It is a condensed bit of the energy that makes up all of life. Most money is paper, cloth, or metal printed with ink or pressed into a round shape and imprinted with symbols. It has a culturally agreed-upon value based on the apparent availability of certain resources. Then we use this made up measure as a means of exchange for food, shelter, goods, and services.

And yet, as unreal as it may be, countless people are caught up in fear around money. We either fear not having enough, or that what we have will be taken from us. But these money fears, like so many other fears, are based on illusions.

Chances are, if you can read this article, you are okay. You most likely have a shelter, food, and loved ones. At the very least you have access to a computer. You can read. And you are able to take the time to explore this website. All of these are signs of wealth.

In fact, most of us are far wealthier than we realize.

I have my health, my wonderful family, and a beautiful home. I get to do work that is fulfilling and creates more health and joy in the world. And yet, at times, even I worry about money.

At least, I think its the money about which I am afraid. But actually, the root of the fear has nothing to do with the symbol. When I truly explore my emotional experience, I recognize that I am hiding behind the money. The truth of fear can take one of many forms:

Fear of ones own power. As Marianne Williamson said, it is not our darkness but our light that we most fear. On some level, when we experience a fear we think is about money, it is more likely that we are afraid of what we would do with the power that money represents. Money is a unit of energy, so having a lot of money means having a lot of power. If we do not trust ourselves fully, we may not trust what we would do with a lot of power.

Fear of being alone. Some people remain in poverty consciousness because their families or communities perpetuate it. The fear is that if we are abundant in a scarce society, then we may be ostracized by those we love or need. Which leads too

Fear of persecution. The idea that if we do appear thriving and rich, others will try and take that from us.

Fear of loss. If we do have plenty, we may be plagued with the fear that we will lose it someday. This is a symptom of attachment, because we will lose everything eventually when our lives end. But this fear is also connected to the idea that we do not deserve this abundance, and that at some point our fraud will be discovered (even if we earned the money though legitimate and healthy means).

Fear that we are not worthy. This is the big one, and ultimately the root of all other money fears. Whether we are rich or poor, many of us are terrified that we are not worthy of abundance. But its not just money, we actually are afraid that we are not worthy of happiness, health, peace, love that we are not worthy of being alive. To heal our relationship with money, we need to recognize our intrinsic worth and preciousness as human beings.

Hopefully you can scoff at these words. My wish is that we evolve to a place where we all recognize our worth and can be in our power. My hope is that we all recognize money as simply an exchange of value, and learn to live in harmony. And you may already be there. But if you do hold fear related to money, I invite you to explore the true root of that fear.