As I did my little power walk by the lake this morning, as I do almost every morning, a strange feeling came over me as I rounded the bend to see the lake in full view.

Has that ever happened to you? You are in a moment where you know, for sure, that a message or meaning is about to wash over you?

The intention of my walk is for my body and mind; it’s not a spiritual thing at all. It’s a challenge. (Both to see if I can get my butt out the door and to beat yesterday’s pace with a little jog here and there.) It’s to capture the peace so that I am better equipped to meet the day. It’s to feel my lungs fill up and miraculously recharge my body with energy, which gives back the time it took from my desk of deadlines.

Of course, I enjoy the sound of the birds and the water in its many forms of serenity and turmoil, so I guess that’s kind of spiritual. But today, the lake spoke, and it spoke loud and clear.

You see, I have a little secret that I barely share with anyone. (Where better to spill the beans than on Positively Positive where we are encouraged to share and help others?) Money frightens the hell out of me! I often feel alone in this internal hell and sometimes wonder what’s wrong with me. How is it that I can be financially fine and yet be so frightened?

I’ll never forget Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Will Smith. He, in his prime, was petrified of money! He said, “I always feel poor.” I may be paraphrasing, but it was something like that. I was startled by his comment! Doesn’t he know he’s filthy rich? Doesn’t he get it that his work ethic and dedication to his craft will never leave him poor?

Like me, he was raised in a home with little or no money. Money walked out the door as fast as it walked in. His fear was based on a false or past foundation, not the new one he had created. I cried that day. His words pierced my chest, front to back.

That interview may not have completely healed me, but for the first time, I knew I wasn’t alone. I, too, am in the prime of my career with magical opportunities. Yet the fear of money had crept in once again this morning, without warning, attempting to steal my complete joy for all I was meant to be and do.

Today, a change would happen, things would be different. The lake spoke! As if in a fog, I couldn’t get over the water’s vastness. It’s endless! It calmly travels but then suddenly will rush loud and fast as if to finish its purpose. Its purpose? To burst over an escarpment and become one of the most spectacular shows on earth—Niagara Falls.

But why, then, is the water still here in the lake, as if untouched? I quietly asked myself. How can this be when millions of gallons per second just fell from it?

Abundance, my head heard…abundance!

My head then heard a very clear message: There will always be water as long as it’s fulfilling its purpose! So how about I worry about the details, like money, and you worry about doing what you are purposed to do? I started to cry, and a peace came over me. I hope I really get it this time. And could it be that I was to break the silence of my inner turmoil so that someone out there gets it too?

Sandi Richard is considered by many to be North America’s leading meal planning expert. She is the three-time award winning creator and host of Fixing Dinner on Food Network Canada, American Life TV, and Discovery Asia. She is an international bestselling author of seven life-changing books in her Cooking for the Rushed series. Sandi is the mother of seven children, and when eating became the enemy in her house, she began searching for solutions.

*Image courtesy of laudu.