How to Answer Any Question You’re Unsure About

Here is a very simple meditation technique that can help you find the answer to any lingering questions that have been been on your mind for some time. Whether you’re stuck at a fork in the road, unsure of what to do next, or have a deeper philosophical question to contemplate, the process works the same either way. Ready?

1. Get a pen and some blank paper.

2. Find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed (yes, your phone counts as a disturbance too).

3. Get seated in a comfortable position, and begin doing several minutes of meditation. If you have a preferred style, go with it. If you’ve never done meditation before, just close your eyes and try to focus completely on your breathing. Any time your mind wanders (it will every few seconds), and you catch yourself daydreaming, refocus your attention on your breathing. If you’re having trouble concentrating, taking 5-10 really deep breaths can be very helpful.

4. When you reach a point where you feel calm and relaxed, open your eyes and write down the question that has been troubling you. Now, write down what you think the answer might be. It’s likely that you’ve spent some time thinking about this, and possibly overanalyzing it to the point of confusion, so it’s good to get all of that uncertainty out onto the page.

5. Put down the pen, and close your eyes again. This time, visualize yourself out in the wilderness, sitting next to a flowing stream of water. Take the paper with the question you’ve asked, put it on a raft, and let it float away.

6. Shift your focus back to your breathing. Feel the uplifting sensation of having released your question out into the universe, being completely at peace with not needing to know the answer right now.

7. After taking several deep breaths and getting back into a completely relaxed state, pick up the pen again and just start writing. The key is to not stop to analyze or think about what you want to write. Just put pen to paper right away and see what comes out. You may be delighted with what you discover.

Through the years, this practice has given me some mind-blowing insights. After a troubling breakup with an ex-girlfriend several years ago, I did this exercise and asked:

“Is it possible for two people in a relationship to truly love one another without jealousy and game playing?"

For the first part, where I wrote out what I thought the answer was, I ended up with a few paragraphs of frustrating analysis that did not give me much clarity. Then, I closed my eyes again and let the question go. When I opened them and grabbed the pen, this is what I wrote down:

"If you want someone to love you like family, you have to love and trust them like family.”

It hit the nail right on the head. It was like a mystical fortune cookie from another realm, arriving at just the right time. When we are completely immersed in our own problems, scratching, clawing, begging, and hoping for someone or something to save us from our troubled existence, sometimes all we need to do is take a step back and just be okay with not knowing where to go from here. To step away from the noise and the distractions, sit in silence, and let things fall into place as the dust settles. To have faith that when we are ready, the answer will emerge. It is only when we stop making ripples in the lake that the moon’s reflection can appear with crystal clarity.