Stop Needing, Start Wanting: Moving from Problem to Solution

This article is about clearly identifying the difference between “needing” and “wanting”, and in that process also moving away from the problem and getting closer to the solution.

This is a blog post on the difference in meaning between the word “need” and “want”, and its relation to our Law of Attraction exercises and practices.

That there is a difference between the word “need” and “want” might not sound so shocking to the reader. After all, these are two separate words. And just as most words in the English language (or any language, for that matter) are different to each other when we compare them, these two words, “need” and “want”, are also different.

But for the average person (who is not into the Law of Attraction), the difference in meaning might perhaps seem slight. When used in ordinary language, and without any concerns about whether our manifestations are working or not working, the idea of “need” might seem to be quite analogous to the idea of “want”. Because if we really need something, it seems to automatically follow that we also want it.

In other words, it seem counter-intuitive to suggest that if we are in need of something, we would not automatically be wanting it. Why would we categorically (i.e. at all attempts of providing it, regardless of the source) say “no thanks” to something if we really were in desperate need of it?

Thus, for the average person, “wanting” something might be understood as a synonym to “needing”, at least in some situations.

But this blog post will try to highlight the idea that “wanting” and “needing” are not synonyms at all, when seen through the lens of Law of Attraction philosophy. In fact, they may have almost opposite effect, in terms of attracting power.

So it is essential for a Law of Attraction student to really understand the difference between these words, and the context in which they are to be used.

Wanting vs Needing

Although the difference between wanting and needing may seem slight to some readers, Abraham-Hicks assures us that the case is just the opposite, when we start settings things in relation to the Law of Attraction and how our manifestations are “carried out”.

As Abraham-Hicks has pointed out so many times (with their “stick” analogy), every topic (or subject), has two different sides (or “poles”): one which contains all the desired and wanted aspects of the topic, and another one which contains all the undesired and unwanted aspects of the topic.

So, for instance, if we want to say something about our health, then we can either say it from the negative, unwanted perspective (“I don’t want to catch the flu.”), or we can express it from the positive, wanted perspective (“I want to be well.”).

The difference might seem small, but in terms of their respective magnetic power, these two sentences are very different. The first sentence attracts the flu, while the second sentence attracts wellness.

The best alternative, therefore, is to always use the positive statements from the wanted perspective, in this case “I want to be well”.

‘Want’ Does Not Imply ‘Lack’

Now, the objection may be raised here by someone who says something like this. Why would I, at all, utter a sentence like “I want to be well”, if I am already super-healthy?

My answer to that objection is this. The idea behind the positive sentence (“I want to be well”), in terms of manifestation power, is that it is universal in its application. Whether you “need” to get well (because you are sick) or you just want to continue feeling well (because you are already in perfect health), the sentence will be serving you well.

In short, the idea of “wanting” should not be equated with “lack”. We should, for example, always want more good health, regardless of where we are at.

Getting Rid of a Condition

I said above that the sentence “I want to be well” would be helpful, whether one is already well or whether one is currently not so well. This, however, assumes that the practitioner really can focus in on the positive sentence (“I want to be well”), and on that sentence only.

So what I am saying is this. If you are well, it should be easy to only focus in on that positive sentence. However, if you are currently sick, then it might be much harder.

For when you are sick, you have manifested something that you did not want. And now that unwanted condition is in your everyday world for you to see, feel, and contemplate, over and over again. It’s in your face.

So here you are, then, observing your condition, and wishing that you can eradicate it in some way. So you feel a “need” to “get rid of that condition”. So the thinking may go: “How can I be happy, having this condition?”

Therefore, or course, your desire is to get well. But the reason you feel that desire to get well is not primarily just to feel the joy of being well. Rather, the reason for you to get well is the “need” to remove yourself from that painful or uncomfortable circumstance of your sickness, which you are constantly being reminded of.

When your thinking and feeling is along those lines, you will not succeed with your intended manifestation of more health.

In order for you to “get rid of your disease”, you must stop using it as a reason for why you want to get healthy. In other words, we cannot use our current negative condition (disease, poverty, etc.) as a reason for why we want a better state of affairs (health, affluence, etc.).

Why Does It Not Work?

But why is that, exactly? Why can I not say “I am sick, and I therefore want health”?

Of course you can say it, or think it. But it won’t bring you what you want, according to the “rules” of the Law of Attraction.

The reason is simple. Whenever we think we “need” something, we are usually in some sort of trouble. And when we are in a troublesome situation, we usually offer negative vibrations.

And not only may they be just be any negative vibrations; they may be strong negative vibrations. Maybe you are down at N2 (medium negative: real anger, etc.) or even N3 (strong negative: hopelessness, etc.).

So if your negative condition is substantial, or very strong, it will counteract any positive emotion you may feel about the prospect of getting well.

In other words, since you have both sentences at play at the same time, and your negative emotions are quite strong compared to the positive emotions you can muster, there will be a constant tug of war between the two sentences and the emotions involved.

So it is more or less a no-go situation: you will not be able to achieve much progress towards your desired destination.

What to Do About It?

The basic way to handle this problem is suggested by Abraham-Hicks in their Law of Attraction (p. 129):

This general advice is, of course, rigid, since it clearly highlights our usual difficulties with manifestation, namely that we are not able to give enough “airtime” and “intensity” to our positive vibrations, compared to the amount of “airtime” and “intensity” we give to our negative vibrations.

Thus, the advice boils down to the idea that we must focus on the solution, instead of the problem. For the solution feels good, while the problem feels bad.

This is yet another way of saying that “you must stop focusing on your ill health”, and instead be giving your attention to “the solution”.

This re-statement of where you should focus does unfortunately not make it any easier to disregard your painful or uncomfortable disease (or troublesome financial situation, or relationship issue, etc.). But it is, at least, good with a reminder.

What Is a ‘Solution’?

Yet another difficulty is that this “problem-solution” discussion seems to raise another problem. For if we are experiencing a problem, we are doing so exactly because we are not having any solution. If we had a solution to our problem, we would not have any problem.

So what does Abraham-Hicks mean by “solution”, then? How can we think positively about a “solution”, if we don’t know the way how to solve the problem? Is not a “solution” a way to solve a problem”?

Here is what the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (1973, p. 2047, column c) says about “solution”, in the context of “problem-solution”:

What we can gather from this text is that the word “solution” is not just referring to “a particular instance or method of solving” the problem, but also, more importantly, to “the state, condition, or fact of being solved.”

And it is this last meaning that Abraham-Hicks most probably has in mind.

In other words, our job as deliberate creators is not to “find an explanation” or “find a method” that solves our problem. Rather, our job as creators is to imagine, or visualize, or “put ourselves in”, the final, desired state where everything is solved.

So our job is not “to hunt for a way to fix the problem”, but simply to mentally “transport ourselves” to the situation when we are enjoying our desired outcome. And that will then, hopefully, produce lots of positive emotion.

By using this technique we also do not have to worry about exactly how we shall be able to reach that destination. For when our positive energy is strong enough (after contemplating our solved state frequently, each time with intensity), the Law of Attraction will gather the necessary cooperative components, so that the solved state can manifest itself.

Conclusion

It is important to always look ahead, and not look back, or look at the current situation, in order for us to succeed with our positive manifestations.

So we therefore should avoid creating from “a need”, and also not use any perceived need as a reason for why we desire a certain manifestation.

In other words, we want to be deliberate creators who create not by “bouncing” from “bad situation” to “good situation”, but by disregarding, or minimizing, our current so-called problems, and then maximizing our positive thoughts about the desired outcome, the desired state.

Best of luck with your “solution” work, and with your manifestations!

Chris Bocay

References

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