When I was in fifth grade, the teacher asked the class, “what is the largest number?”. We each grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper and toiled away at our best guess. One by one we raced to the teacher’s desk and showed her various numbers with long strings of zeroes or nines and one by one we returned to our desks puzzled as to what that elusive number might be.
Finally, the teacher asked “what is your number plus one? Or plus two? Or plus one hundred?”. And at that moment, I grasped the concept of infinity. It was mind-blowing to a ten year old. Mathematics would never be the same again.
That is what happens when intriguing, mind-blowing questions get asked. They often lead to mind-blowing answers that forever change how you view things.
Below are seven mind-blowing questions that might make you rethink your life if you take the time to give a thoughtful answer. Keep in mind that while the questions themselves might seem fairly ordinary at first glance, it is what you do with the questions that can potentially have a life-changing impact.
Mind Blowing Question #1: From where do your thoughts originate?
If you said “my brain” think again. It may NOT be that simple.
Science has yet to explain how physical materials—brain cells and neurotransmitters—bring about the non-physical result we call “thought.” Plus, how do we explain phenomena such as telepathy or premonitions, where minds communicate with one another when there is NO physical connection to allow it? Some experts postulate that consciousness exists outside the brain and the brain operates more as a filter.
In other words, our minds are not “local” to our brain but “non-local.” We simply download it from a place outside of ourselves. If you believe that your spirit lives on after your body dies, you are acknowledging that your consciousness does not originate in your brain.
Many writers of songs or books cannot fully explain how they created a certain melody or beautiful turn-of-the-phrase. “It just came to me!” they would say. If you consider the idea that your thoughts can be coming from a source outside of you, does that inspire you or frighten you?
Mind Blowing Question #2: If you lost everything that was important to you—money, relationships, health, etc.—what could possibly sustain you?
If you live long enough or love hard enough, you will eventually lose something or someone that means the world to you. Then what? How strongly do you embrace such things as faith, hope, gratitude, beauty, and love in order to still discover a meaningful life after a great loss?
Believe it or not, cultivating such virtues now can give you strength in times of great need.
Mind Blowing Question #3: Where in your life do you have peace of mind?
The less at peace you are, the more stressed and unhappy you will be. The mistake people make is assuming that peace of mind can only occur when all is well, when one’s troubles are resolved and the future is completely bright. But how often does that happen?
When you can learn to accept things you cannot change, to follow the light instead of the shadow, to find the beauty within the ugly, to discover the hope within the despair, and trust in the belief that you always have the capacity to change your life and the lives of others for the better, inner peace will blossom.
Mind Blowing Question #4: What if you believed that you exist for a Divine purpose?
Even if you don’t believe that at all, what if you believed that? What difference might that make in your actions, your attitudes, and your choices? And if you answer these mind-blowing questions, what does that tell you about the course your life is on right now?
The search for that purpose may be unknown to you. If so, examine your passions—that which truly excites and fulfills you—for your Divine purpose may have something to do with those yearnings. Notice when “random” events or “coincidences” occurred that pointed you in directions you might not otherwise have taken. Those are clues to your Divine purpose.
Mind Blowing Question #5: What do you wish people understood about you that they don’t (fully) understand now?
The answer to this question might reveal why you have problems in certain relationships or why you feel lonely or misunderstood. It might be a clue that you haven’t made it clear to others what you need them to understand. It might indicate something about yourself that you are afraid of revealing.
It might even be an aspect of yourself that even YOU don’t fully understand or appreciate. If others did understand that aspect of who you are, then what difference might it make in your relationships, happiness, goals, or your sense of fulfillment?
Mind Blowing Question #6: What if you were more aware that every thought, feeling, or action of yours has a definite ripple-effect?
The truth is your thoughts and deeds DO have a ripple effect.
If you took that into consideration, much more than you now do, how would that change your decisions and actions? If you believed that even simple actions, such as how you treat the cashier at your favorite coffee shop, would in turn have a ripple effect that affected dozens of other people—loved ones and strangers—what effect would you want that to be?
In every interaction you make, YOU have the power to open another person’s spirit or close it. Be mindful.
Mind Blowing Question #7: Can you peacefully co-exist with uncertainty?
If you can’t relax unless you know what an outcome will be before it happens; if you can’t make positive steps forward without knowing what you will find around the corner; if you must always have fallback plans to ensure that nothing can go wrong – then you will rarely have calm moments.
You might also be unknowingly driving people around you crazy. Uncertainty is a huge part of our everyday life and impossible to eradicate. If you examine the most important things that happened in your life—good and bad—you will realize that they were unexpected and unplanned. You may be happily married but the day before you met your spouse you may never have known they existed.
The same is true with your best friends. Who your parents were, where you grew up, who your teachers were—meeting them were all unplanned by you. When you can embrace uncertainty as a friend and not fear it, you can quiet your mind and have access to inner guidance or insights you wouldn’t otherwise have noticed when your mind is full of chatter and scary “what if?” thoughts.
If any of these mind blowing questions made you rethink who you are and where you are going, then you are on track to make some truly amazing changes in your life. So the next question is: “what’s your next step?”
