'You think too much' is a phrase that I've been told so many times in my life. My usual response is 'but I don't know how to stop it!" Which is so true, because I really don't know how to make my brain stop working the way that it's has been whole life.
The following are 10 struggles only chronic all over thinkers (including myself) face everyday.
1. You do more planning than acting (and vice versa).
We plan to do many tasks but only execute a few, or we plan very few events and execute all of them. For me, this is making big to-do lists and then only crossing off a few items from each list.
2. Worry becomes your enemy and best friend.
Worrying has become our protector. It keeps us from moving, but helps us in making important decisions. I'm a self-proclaimed worry-wart and worry about every aspect of my life on a daily basis.
3. You spend a lot of time thinking about the hidden meaning in conversations or events that happen.
Someone could be either too short or too nice to you, causing you to spend the rest of the day thinking about it. This happened to me just a few days ago, when someone who I hadn't seen for a while said hi to me, and I picked apart the ten-second interaction for the next few days.
4. Happiness seems suspicious.
We are so used to being repeatedly proved wrong, that when something good happens to us we don't believe it. The thought of being actually happy makes us uneasy. It gives us the feeling that something is going to go wrong or we're going to screw everything up.
5. You relive embarrassing stories in your head.
We have the idea that if we reply these incidents in our heads, it'll help us understand why they occured.
I do embarrassing stuff on a regular basis, so this problem constantly haunts me.
6. You get lost in the present thinking about the past and future.
We get so caught up in trying to fix the past or prevent bad things in the future, that we get lost in our thoughts in the present. We can never truly live in the moment because we can't escape the zone of overthinking.
For me, when I'm in these so called 'zones' I zone out and ignore what's going on around me. I can't even count how many times people have waved in front of me to snap out of it.
7. You are never 100% sure about anything.
Self-doubt is a huge part of this. Even if we are totally and completely sure about something, we can think of a situation that can wreck that.
This is similar to when I'm still unsure and uneasy, even when my life has been going good and I'm actually happy.
8. You make multiple scenarios for how one event could go.
We think of every bad thing that could happen in every event in our lives.
The date could go bad, the hang-out with friends could end in arguing, the family time becomes awkward and quiet, lunch with your siblings ends badly.... I could go on and on. I have a bad scenario for each event in my life.
9. If someone offends or hurts you, you keep replaying it in your head.
If you're over emotional like me, this problem is like a double-edged sword. If someone says something remotely mean to me, I cannot stop thinking about it.
This causes me to get bitter and hold grudges for a long time (which is never good).
10. You just can't let things go.
While it is easier said than done, truly the only way to be happy is to not let your mind overtake your life.
Making mistakes is part of life and it can be hard to let them go and accept it. We need to remind ourselves that overthinking ruins us and makes us bitter.
Keep calm and have faith that it'll get better.
