I completely agree with you, Ann. At times, it does seem like we focus on what people don't currently have and then discuss it.

Looking at it from that superficial level, it seems that we're not helping anyone but making things worse through that focus on lack and limitation.

But I think there's more to it than that.

I'm of the view that many of the people who are attracted to Inward Quest and ask a question here (even if it is lack-based) are looking for a way out of that feeling of lack...they are ready for change.

But the human emotional scale (below) is such that it is difficult to move far from where you are currently vibrating on a particular subject.

If, say, someone is in Discouragement (No. 16) on a particular topic, they are not suddenly going to have vibrational access to, say, Positive Expectation (No. 4).

They are only going to be able to hear answers that are within a few emotional steps of where they are.

In the example above, if that discouraged person is given an answer relating to focusing on Joy (No. 1), it's just too far out of reach from where they are and the answer will just sound like "blah, blah, blah"...it won't make sense to them and it will just annoy them because they won't feel that the other person understands their issue...there will be no feeling of vibrational connection.

The way to help them then is to give them an answer that soothes them into a slightly better feeling-place than where they currently are, even if it is not the complete and total answer.

So if someone on this site soothes that discouraged person into, for example, Boredom (No. 8), now that person has vibrational access to questions and answers that might be on the positive end of the scale - Contentment (No. 7) and above.

Time and again, I see people expecting to make others leap from low-down on the emotional scale to high-up in an instant and, in my view, it doesn't help the question-asker and it wastes the time of the question-answerer in relation to that person.

As a demonstration of how this works, you could try browsing this site when you are in a bad mood and observe which questions and answers you are drawn towards - and then browse this site when you are in a joyful mood and see which questions and answers you are drawn towards.

I think you'll find that you'll see Inward Quest in a very different way in both mindsets.

So, to answer your question in a sentence, yes, we are giving attention to lack from time to time but I think that's necessary in order to genuinely soothe the lack-filled question-asker into a better place that they can then hear more positive suggestions - and also, eventually, perhaps hear more of what might be considered their own truth.

I don't think the universe knows "want" and "don't want".

The Universe is always working in our favor (for a lack of better terms), not in our favor as in what we want or do not but just what we are paying attention to or what we are focusing on. The Universe does not like to disappoint :)

So if you are in a low vibrational state, that state will bring naturally you to focus and notice lower vibrating matches and you will be naturally "matched" up to it. The Universe does not 'know' that you do not want lower stuff, it is just a natural occurrence for you to be matched to it at that state. Only we humans have labeled good or bad to vibrations because of how they make us feel.

The bonus is because we "Feel" and naturally we want (well most of us do) to feel better, we humans can use this gauge to regulate our feelings to 'find' the vibrational match that suits our needs at any given moment. I stress moment because you can change levels at any moment. You can not jump up a lot at once but you can always move up the scale at any given time.

I have found for me that appreciation is something that moves me up the scale well. That then leads to other great feelings. I generally start with that (appreciation) while NOT thinking of wants or not wants, just being grateful for weird little things like crosswalk buttons so I can cross the street more easily and kittens, yes kittens.

I wil leave you with the thought of Kittens, how can that not raise your vibration :)

No Ann,it is good to ask questions. You have now learnt one of the most fundamental facts about the spiritual/metaphysical world.

You have learned that you must give focus and attention to that which you want.

It took me 40 years to get to that.

Now we must focus on what we want. Simple,easy to understand and effective.

You have asked the questions which is good. You have learned which is good. Now your going to put what youve learned into practice,which is really good.

No problems there.

Graham

You are already giving attention to what you don't want. In asking and reading questions and answers here, you can learn to leave that behind and give attention to what you do want. I find that the fastest, easiest way to change my emotional state is EFT. There are many variations out there including Matrix Reimprinting and FasterEFT. I have mentioned it and posted links to it on this site in many posts. There are several methods here that people have mentioned and described that can help one change their thinking from negative to positive. It is up to each of us to take what we learn and run with it and grow and move to a place we want to be.