How many times have you and/or someone you know asked "How long should I wait till I text him back", "Can I send him another snap if he ignored my first one", "Wait, can I like his Instagram picture or does that make me look too eager", or something along those lines? Undoubtedly, the most common answer from the young female population is: far too many times! Because of this we are labeled as the gender that tends to "overthink."
Guy friends find it amusing when they catch us stressing over little things like Snapchat best-friend rankings and the blue to grey text bubble ratio. The guy on the other end of it may think you're playing games or not being straight forward. So if all the guys we know insist our efforts are all for naught, why do we continue to do it?
Could it be because we are all indeed genetically predisposed to the curse of overthinking? Or, is it out of fear and caution of being labeled the dreaded C-word...
Crazy.
She's crazy.
No one wants to be thought back on in a friend group as Crazy Caren. (Ex: "Caren? Oh dude that girl was crazy" or "Oh god, I saw Caren between classes today. She'd be so cute if she hadn't gone crazy on me")
Sadly, there is a very thin line between being Crazy Caren and Caring Caren. The slope between the two is as steep as it is slippery, which is why the typical girl will do everything humanely possible to appear like she doesn't care.
"Wow I double texted him, is he going to think I'm obsessed with him."
"Ugh! I want to hang out with him tonight, but I never ask first so he doesn't think I'm too into him."
Slowly all this overthinking and hidden emotion builds and builds. Eventually, what's a girl going to do besides blow up? She embodies her fear. Running from it makes her become it.
Solution? Stop shaming emotion! Embrace how you feel!
When did emotion become an ugly thing? Why does it make people go running with their tails between their legs? Why does expressing it make you seem like you have no chill or make you more likely to be shunned?
Perhaps, it's because certain people are too immature to handle it.
Perhaps, because people have been burned by it too many times before.
Perhaps, because it's not reciprocated.
Perhaps this.
Perhaps that.
Whatever the reason is, is it big enough to try to force yourself to act emotion-less? OR is it a perfect reason to do your own shunning.
Don't put up with people that only approve of emotion if it's coming out of them.
Don't become victim to immaturity and the inability to handle the most important thing that distinguishes us from robots.
Don't fall into the cycle of overthinking.
Don't be crazy.
Don't be crazy enough to follow this insane way of living life.
Want to text him? Want to snap him? Want to like his pictures? Want to poke him on Facebook? Want to ask him to hang out? DO IT.
Stop badgering your best friends for advice on the best response. Do them a favor and stop filling their limited iPhone storage with endless screenshots.
Be confident, show how you feel, and remember that the word crazy only comes out of the mouths of those too weak to handle real human emotion.
