Pathwalking 106
Do you overthink things?
This is a very important question, because knowing the answer makes a tremendous difference in how and where you find satisfaction in life.
I often remark that my inner skeptic gets in the way of my plans. But more realistically, I think, it is my tendency to overthink.
What exactly is overthinking?
Overthinking is when you consider every possible aspect and angle of a given situation, apply reason and logic, then rethink the whole thing, applying more reason and more logic, to the point where you convince yourself that you are either doing something wrong or you will make a mistake or you lose sight of the idea because you have taken it to a place far beyond the original intention.
The previous run-on sentence is a perfect example of how overthinking works. You start at point “a”, intent on reaching point “b”, but somehow wind up at point “q”. Before you know it, you cannot make much use of the first idea.
Thinking is important. To walk any path, you start with the idea about the path you want to walk, then you think about how to walk it, get a sense of how that will feel, and then take action. Pathwalking is the combination of thought with feeling and action, as I have expressed many times before. But you cannot rely on feeling and action alone.
Thought comes in many forms. Some thoughts are good, some are bad, but really most are pretty neutral. It is the intent behind the thought that takes on direction towards good or bad, right or wrong, moral or amoral, and so on. Because people do not distinguish between thought and intention, people come to believe that thinking can be bad.
If more people would think for themselves, the world would be a far better place. It is too easy to let other people do all the thinking for you. Pathwalking is about taking control of your life and your destiny, and that involves thinking for yourself.
The challenge is to find and know the difference between not thinking, thinking, and overthinking. As with everything else, balance needs to be achieved.
Not thinking can manifest in a variety of ways. Some are good – following your gut instinct for your own good, taking a leap of faith to make yourself happy, the first kiss and so on. Some are bad – allowing lust to overcome faithfulness, saying a hurtful thing unintentionally, the heat of the moment lashing out verbally or physically and such. Knowing that you have not put thought to something is important because the lesson to be learned is dependent on whether you wound up happy or discontented from the action that followed.
Thinking is considering your options, examining choices, making decisions based on consideration and logic applied to a given situation. Sometimes the thought requires little to no time and deliberation, and sometimes it takes a while. Thinking about what you are doing, where you are going, who you are with, what you want from life, who you are and more allows you to make choices and assert control over life.
Overthinking can be better summed up as taking the thought process so very far that you never take any action. You don’t accept the job offer, start the relationship, invest the money, choose the choice before it is no longer available – because you spent so much time thinking about it and considering it and analyzing it that it passed you by. That is overthinking.
I have done this more times than I can count. Probably more than letting my cynical side or my skepticism overcome my thought – I have simply overthought something and subsequently lost it.
What do you do about overthinking?
Identifying the difference between not thinking, thinking and overthinking is the first step. Recognizing these individually allows me to better know in a given situation what I am doing. Did I act on my gut? Did I give it thought? Am I giving it too much thought? This is where we need to be.
How do I stop myself overthinking? To be perfectly honest – I am not entirely certain. I believe, however, that the answer is this: once you have identified an overthinking situation, stop your deliberation and take action. Quit preparing, pondering, examining, exploring and analyzing whatever the options are and take action. That strikes me as the most logical answer.
Easier said than done? Probably. But I know I will be trying it for myself next time I overthink an idea.
Do you find yourself overthinking things?
This is the one-hundred sixth entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Thank you for joining me.
The first year of Pathwalking is available in print and for your Kindle.
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