The Fear Of NO MONEY

Here’s a quick, three-part quiz about one of the major issues most individuals grapple with these days.

a) List the most frequent points of contention that recur in relationship after relationship.
b) Name the biggest fear women have about their future.
c) Guess the secret we hold dearest, beyond even our most intimate relations.

If you said: a) communications, sex and MONEY; b) losing control of their physical or mental facilities or being on the street because they don’t have any MONEY; and, c) the amount of MONEY we owe; you’re absolutely right.

According to a recent survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, concern about money is the prime source of stress for 73 percent of Americans. Everybody, it seems, has money issues, but, sadly, hardly anybody really talks about it. Money is our secret, both in private and in public. Sometimes we don’t even admit our worries to ourselves.

Like most secret fears, anxieties about money spread like the common cold until they’ve infected our attitude and behavior and smothered any sense of well-being. And, because we don’t talk about them or admit them, we are held back from doing anything about them.

Once the fear is given voice, however, some of its power is taken away and we can begin to take action.

Suze Orman, author of The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, believes that the sooner we deal with our fears, the more money we will be able to create. "When you heal your heart, you help your pocketbook," she says.

Often it is the early messages we received about money that influence our current beliefs. That relentless, looping tape recorder in our minds picks up and continues to play old ideas that are sometimes so subtle we don’t even realize their presence.

So, one of the first steps in dealing with current money issues is to explore early beliefs that still have a grip on our attitudes and choices. Make notes about these old messages. Write a "money biography"—the history of your relationship with money from childhood to present. Also list your fears about money—no matter how ridiculous or far-fetched they might sound.

Our unspoken attitudes and ideas about money issues may be getting in the way of a sense of well-being and security in our lives. In fact, we may not even know they exist. And, like finding our way through a darkened room when things are going bump in the night, it always helps to turn on the lights.