In an old text called the Katha (say "kuh-tuh") Upanishad, a boy's father, in a temper, says he'll give the boy to Death. So the boy goes, and waits three nights at Death's house with nothing to eat, because Death is out. When Death gets home, he owes his slighted guest, and grants him three wishes, which the text calls boons. For the last one, the boy asks what happens to us after we die. Death tries to buy him off with gold, cattle and a long life, the boy won't budge, and Death finally teaches him. Partway through that teaching comes the line: "Rise, awake! having obtained your boons, understand them!" Getting what you asked for, it says, isn't the same as taking it in. You've probably got a few answers like that lying around: the printout from the doctor, the manual for the car seat, the steps you made the plumber write down. This morning, take one of them out and read it again as if you mean to follow it.