Intro to Meditation - What am I doing exactly?

So what is sitting still and focusing on your breath actually doing? How is stopping thoughts going to help benefit you? When I first started meditating, I found myself asking these questions "What am I actually trying to accomplish here?" Why am I doing nothing? Shouldn't I be doing something more productive? Your first experience will probably be similar, lots of unanswered ambiguous questions. And that, is okay! This is all a part of the experience. Allow your thoughts to flow and just observe them. Now breath in, and just let it go.