Many of us think about money in terms of scarcity: the fear of losing it, of not having enough, and therefore the need to hold on to it tightly. Behind the veil of scarcity, though, there are more gracious ways to engage with money. What if we understood money as a form of energy that is meant to flow through our lives and through the world, rather than be hoarded and so become stagnant? To see money this way, to be willing to let it flow, requires letting go of fear and trusting instead that there is and will be enough for us and for others. Sufficiency—enoughness—is the middle way between scarcity and exploitative wealth. As Gandhi put it, the world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed. Sufficiency is the way the birds of the air live, and the lilies of the field.
