Questions to Ask the Universe
Questions to ask the universe in a journal, in prayer or on a long walk alone. They run from guidance and signs through hard lessons, love, work and money to yes-or-no decisions and trust, so you can ask the universe a question that fits the day you are having. Each has a note on what it tends to surface and how to turn it into something you can check or act on, whether or not you expect a reply.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Guidance
What do I need to know right now?
Why ask it
The place to start when you cannot say what is wrong. It asks for one thing, not a plan, so take the first sentence that arrives, even one as plain as 'you are tired'. Plain answers can be checked, which the grand ones cannot.
What is my purpose?
Why ask it
Too big to settle in one sitting, so answer it for this year first: who relies on you now, and what do you finish feeling more awake than when you began? A lifetime's answer tends to be several of those years laid end to end.
What is my next step?
Why ask it
Ask for one step, not the staircase. A real answer is small enough to do within a week and specific enough that you would know if you had skipped it. 'Trust the process' is not a step.
Is this the right path for me?
Why ask it
Mostly asked on a bad day, which skews the result. Put it to yourself again on a dull, uneventful day and compare. If both days say no, look at what leaving the path would cost you, since that cost is often the only thing keeping you on it.
Can you send me a sign?
Why ask it
People ask for a feather or a repeated number and then count the near misses. Name the sign in advance and give it a deadline, a week or a month. If the date passes with nothing, that is information too, and it is the half that tends to get thrown away.
What are you trying to show me today?
Why ask it
Small enough to check by bedtime. Jot down whatever caught your attention twice: a name that came up, a job you kept walking past, a line from a song. One day proves little, but the same thing turning up all week deserves a page of its own.
How will I know when I have been answered?
Why ask it
Worth settling before any of the others. Decide what would count: a change in what you do, a steadier feeling that lasts past the weekend, a door that opens without forcing. Otherwise you can be answered several times and go on asking.
What do I really want?
Why ask it
Lists of wants fill up with things you are supposed to want. Test each line by picturing it already granted on an ordinary morning; if you feel flat, or only relieved that people would stop asking, cross it out. What survives is short, and it is the thing to ask for.
What am I refusing to see?
Why ask it
The honest answer tends to come fast, sometimes before you have finished reading the question. Write that first one down even if it seems unfair. A long pause followed by something reasonable is a sign you have begun editing.
Where should I put my attention this year?
Why ask it
Attention, not intention, is what a year is made of. If your answer lists five areas, cut it to one and notice which you were most reluctant to drop. A list of five is a way of not choosing.
What would I do if I stopped waiting for a sign?
Why ask it
If an answer comes at once, you had already decided and were waiting for permission, not information. Ask what makes going ahead unconfirmed feel dangerous: being wrong, or being the one responsible for it.
Lessons
What is this trying to teach me?
Why ask it
A lesson you can use fits in one sentence about what you would do differently next time. If the only one on offer is that somebody else should have behaved better, give it a few weeks and ask again.
Why does this keep happening to me?
Why ask it
Said as a complaint, it gets nothing back; asked in earnest, it makes you describe the pattern instead of the latest instance. Write down three occasions and look for what they share: the timing, the kind of person, the moment you went quiet. Sometimes the thread is a choice of yours and sometimes it is bad luck three times running, which is worth knowing too.
Did this happen for a reason?
Why ask it
More often shouted than asked, and a reason seldom comes back. What you can get is smaller: the events in order, told without the word 'deserve'. While the loss is recent, leave meaning alone; it keeps, and it is easier to find later.
What is holding me back?
Why ask it
First drafts of this list open with money, time and other people. Keep writing until something appears that you control, such as a call not made or a standard nobody asked you to meet. That line is the one to work on.
What do I need to let go of?
Why ask it
The answers are seldom objects. More often it is a role, an old plan, or a relationship that ended some while before anyone said so. Letting go shows in your week, not your journal: look for the hour you stop spending on it.
What is this ending making room for?
Why ask it
Only fair to ask once the ending has been allowed to hurt; on day two it is a way of skipping the sadness. Later, take stock of what has come back: hours, money, a side of you that had gone quiet.
What am I really afraid of?
Why ask it
Follow the fear down a level or two: 'failing' turns into who would see it, then into what they would say. Then ask where you learned it. A fear from your own bad experience can be checked against how things stand now, while one picked up from a parent may need talking through with someone.
What am I meant to forgive?
Why ask it
Forgiveness goes wrong when it is treated as a feeling to produce on demand. Ask what you would stop doing if the account were closed: rehearsing the argument, checking their profile. None of that requires letting the person back into your life.
What needs healing before I can move on?
Why ask it
Disproportion is the clue. A passing remark that spoiled a whole day is pointing at something older than the remark. If what comes up is heavy, bring it to a person as well as a page.
If nothing outside me changes, what still can?
Why ask it
This is for the stretches when the job, the landlord or the other person is not going to move. Look for what is still in your hands: when you go to bed, what you agree to, who you ring. It will not fix the large thing, but it stops the large thing running every hour of the day.
Love
Is this person right for me?
Why ask it
Put to the universe because putting it to the person feels riskier. Trade it for a version with evidence: in the hour after you see them, do you feel lighter or smaller? A few months of those hours say more than any sign.
When will I meet the person I am looking for?
Why ask it
Nobody can honestly give you a date, so turn the when into a where. Count the new people you have met in the last three months. If the number is close to zero, the timing is less of a mystery than it feels.
What kind of love am I ready for?
Why ask it
Ready is the working word. Describe an ordinary Wednesday with this person instead of a list of qualities, then notice which parts of your present life would have to move to make room for it.
Will they come back?
Why ask it
No sign can promise this, and waiting on one keeps you standing where they left you. Ask what you would need them to do differently if they did return, and whether they ever showed signs of it. Then plan the next three months as though the answer were no; you lose nothing if you turn out to be wrong.
Should I reach out to them, or let it rest?
Why ask it
Check what you are hoping the message will do. If it is to say something true and finished, send it; if it is to find out whether they still think of you, no reply will settle that. And if they have asked you not to contact them, you already have your answer.
What am I bringing into this relationship from the last one?
Why ask it
Usually a defence that made sense back then: checking, withholding, leaving first. Name the one your partner or closest friend would recognise at once, and consider telling them you have spotted it too.
What am I asking someone else to give me that I could give myself?
Why ask it
Common answers are reassurance, permission and rest. The point is not to need nobody. It is to sort the requests that are fair to hand to another person from the ones that will wear them out.
Who should I be spending my time with?
Why ask it
Answer with names, not qualities. Go through who you saw last month and how you felt on the way home from each of them, then check whether anyone is missing from the list out of embarrassment more than dislike.
Work and money
What work am I meant to be doing?
Why ask it
A calling is easier to find by subtraction. Take away the title, the pay rise and the audience, and see what you would still turn up for. It may be one part of the job you already have, which is cheaper to act on than a new career.
What am I good at that I keep treating as nothing?
Why ask it
Skills that came easily get filed as not counting. A fair test is what friends ask you to help with, unprompted and more than once. Write those down before you decide you have nothing to offer.
Should I take the leap, or build the bridge first?
Why ask it
Quitting in one move and leaving in stages are both leaps; one of them has a floor. Ask what the smallest test of the new thing would be, a weekend, a first client, a short course, and whether you have been avoiding even that.
What should I finish before I start something new?
Why ask it
A fresh start is a pleasant way to abandon something three quarters done. Pick the one unfinished thing that nags most and either complete it or drop it on purpose. Both count, and both clear the ground.
How do I bring more abundance into my life?
Why ask it
The word abundance hides the request, so say which kind you mean: money, time, friends, energy. Then look at what you do when that thing is offered. Plenty of people ask for more while waving away a favour, a compliment or an invitation.
What does enough look like for me?
Why ask it
Without a number, a date or a description, enough moves every time you get near it. Write a rough one down: a monthly figure, a size of home, how many evenings free. You can revise it, but you cannot notice arriving somewhere you never named.
What would I do differently if I trusted there would be enough money?
Why ask it
The answer shows which choices scarcity is making for you: the job kept out of dread, the price you are afraid to quote. Trust is not a budget, though, so set the answer beside your real numbers before you act on it.
Yes or no
Should I say yes to this?
Why ask it
This is the plain yes-or-no that people bring to a coin, a card or an app. Treat the result as a mirror. A flash of relief or a sinking feeling the moment it lands is your answer, whichever way it fell.
Is it time to leave?
Why ask it
Whether it is a job, a city or a relationship, this tends to be asked long after it first occurred to you. Find that first time. If it was years ago and the reasons have not changed, timing is no longer the real question.
Am I ready, or am I waiting to feel ready?
Why ask it
Readiness as a feeling tends to show up after the start, not before it. List what you would need in hand, a skill, a sum, a conversation, and see how much of the list is already done.
Is this fear a warning, or is it only nerves?
Why ask it
A warning is usually specific: it names what could go wrong and quietens once you deal with that thing, while nerves stay loud whatever you do. Describe the fear to a friend and listen for whether it comes out as details. If it is about your safety around a particular person, treat it as a warning.
Is this mine to fix?
Why ask it
A short one for people who pick up every problem in the room. Mine means you caused it, you were asked, or nobody else can do it. When none of the three applies, stepping back may be the kind thing.
Is the answer no, or is it not yet?
Why ask it
The two feel identical on the day. Not yet arrives with something to do in the meantime, such as a skill to build or a date to try again. A no keeps coming back in the same words however you rephrase the request.
Did I make the right choice?
Why ask it
Asked about the past, where no sign can change anything. What you can still answer is whether you would choose the same again knowing only what you knew then. If so, the regret belongs to the outcome and not to the decision.
Will I be all right if this does not work out?
Why ask it
This one sits under most of the others. Answer it practically: where you would live, who you would call, how long your savings would last. A worst case with an address is easier to carry than a vague one.
Trust
Is anyone listening?
Why ask it
Underneath the whole practice sits this one, and you do not have to settle it to carry on. Asking aloud tends to change what you notice afterwards, whether or not anything hears, and that much you can test for yourself.
Why is this taking so long?
Why ask it
The effort has been made and nothing has shown up. Split the wait in two: what is still yours to do, a follow-up, another application, a hard conversation, and what is out of your hands. Do the first list, and let the second be the only part you call waiting.
Where am I already being helped without noticing?
Why ask it
Name three people who made this week easier, down to what each one did: the school run, the covered shift, the text asking how it went. It is hard to go on believing you carry everything alone with that list in front of you.
What have I not said thank you for?
Why ask it
Good outcomes get absorbed within days while failures get anniversaries. Listing a recovery, a mended friendship or a debt cleared evens the record, and a fairer record changes what you ask for next.
What am I being prepared for?
Why ask it
It is easy to answer this too grandly, so keep it small: a skill you are being made to practise, patience being taught, a conversation you keep rehearsing. Modest answers have the advantage that you can check them a year on.
What would I ask for if I believed I would be answered?
Why ask it
People tend to ask for the version they think they can get: a slightly better job, a less bad month. Write the full-size request first, in one sentence, and decide afterwards whether it is unreasonable.
What are you asking of me in return?
Why ask it
Requests to the universe mostly run one way. Turning the question round tends to produce a short list you already suspected: show up, tell the truth, finish what you began.
Who can I help today?
Why ask it
The one question here that points away from you, and a relief on days when your own are going in circles. Pick a person and a task you could finish before bed: a lift to the station, a reference written, a call to someone who lives alone.
What would it look like to trust that things are working out?
Why ask it
Trust here is a behaviour more than a mood. It might mean checking your phone less, leaving one evening unplanned, or not rehearsing the bad outcome on the drive home. Pick one and try it for a week.
Am I willing to be changed by the answer?
Why ask it
Every other question on the page depends on this one. If you already know which answers you would ignore, the one about leaving, say, or the one about forgiving, begin with those.
How to ask, and what to do with the answer
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
How to ask the universe a question
Ask one thing, in your own words
A question lifted whole from a list is someone else's question. Change the wording until it names your actual situation, and ask only that one. Three questions asked together let you keep the answer you like best.
Start in the group that matches the week
Guidance suits a morning or the start of a year, and Lessons the weeks after something has gone wrong. Love and Work and money are for a particular worry, Yes or no for a decision with a date on it, and Trust for when you have asked plenty and need to stop. You do not have to begin at the top.
Treat a yes-or-no verdict as a mirror
A coin, a card or a yes-or-no app cannot know your life, but your reaction to its verdict can show what you were hoping for. Ask, look at the result, and write down the first feeling. Then decide for yourself, with that feeling as one piece of evidence.
Give the question a deadline
Open-ended asking can run for years. Pick a date by which you will act on whatever you have, whether that is a clear sense, half a sense or nothing. Nothing by the deadline usually means the decision was yours to make all along.
Setting up the practice
One question per sitting
Working through the list in an evening produces a page of tidy sentences and no change. One question, written out by hand, gets further than five thought about in the car.
Write before you think
Give yourself ten minutes of writing without stopping to assess. The first honest sentence often arrives a few paragraphs in, once the presentable answers are used up.
Date everything and come back
Put the date on the page and reread it in a month. The question about why something keeps happening only becomes useful when you can see what you wrote before it happened again.
Ask outdoors when you are stuck
A walk can loosen an answer that a desk will not: there is nothing to correct and nobody reading. Carry one question, not the list.
When nothing comes
Answer the smaller version
If the question about purpose produces silence, answer what would make tomorrow slightly less wasted instead. Small true answers accumulate into the larger one.
Look at the week rather than the feeling
Your calendar and your bank statement answer questions about values faster than introspection does, because they record what you actually chose.
Say it out loud to one person
Some questions only open when spoken. Reading the question and your written answer to a friend, without asking for advice, often does the rest.
Where this practice goes wrong
Using reflection to postpone a decision
Asking a question a fourth time can feel like diligence and function as delay. If you already know the answer and are asking again, that is the finding.
Reading confirmation into coincidence
Once you are looking for a sign, everything qualifies, including whatever you already wanted. Write down in advance what you would accept as an answer, and keep the note.
Grading your own answers
The instinct to phrase reflections well is the instinct that keeps them shallow. Nobody is reading the page, and the ugly sentences are the useful ones.
Doing hard work alone
Questions about fear, forgiveness and repeated patterns can open more than a notebook can hold. If one of them keeps you awake for a week, that is a reason to talk to someone, not to write harder.