Or, in (my) other words, the act of going so deep into the analysis of a certain situation, that the said situation becomes out of proportion and therefore, so is the expectations, anxiety, stress, paranoia, name it!
There is great danger, I find, in digging deeper and deeper in our mind in search of… Of what again? Answers, perhaps, or comfort, or reassurance, or glitches. Whatever the question might be, by looking to closely at it, by dissecting it in tinier and tinier pieces won’t make the answer magically appear at a narrow turn you created in your brain. I find this oh so common practice to be on one hand very stressful, and on the other hand, very destructive.
#Stress mostly rises when the mind creates stuff that doesn’t exist, and then, anticipates the non-existent stuff like it was a certainty. An example : you want to go swim in the ocean. You know that there are sharks in the ocean. You don’t go in the ocean because you fear a shark will attack you. But, this mean, charging you shark doesn’t really exist in the present moment, does it? It is made up in your twirling mind, and now, you are anticipating and fearing it. It is preventing you from being in the present moment and doing what your heart wants to!
Overthinking can be, in my opinion, very destructive. When you get caught up to far in your head you might forget to live, to truly live. You might stay stuck on the pros and cons, your legs frozen, unable to move forward and fly. It might lead you to believe awful things about yourself that are very far from the truth. It might project you in a fictional future or an already finished past in between which no now fits. Thought that is in this now that life is meant to be lived, and loved, and laughed and smiled and risked.
So, what is the cure to all that? Is there one?
I think that the antidote to an over analyzing brain is definitely focusing the awareness back to the here and now. To that precious present moment everyone is talking about. The paths to it are multiple and one can be more effective for one person than another. But here is a fun one to try in two different cases.
Be spontaneous.
Case #1 : The future
Next time you are facing a dilemma, which may include (but are not limited to): accepting a proposition to go out, exploring a new job opportunity, giving a chance to a romantic potential, embarking on an exciting unknown activity or trying a new soap brand, instead of barricading yourself behind walls of intricate thoughts and scenarios, here is a new approach :
Stop everything you do.
Take a deep breath.
Tune in to your heart, your gut, your third eye, your instinct.
What’s the first answer that comes to your mind?
Do it. Take a leap. Jump. Dive. Fly.
And change your mind if, finally, you are not satisfied with the results!
Case #2 : The past
Next time you are catching yourself rehashing, rambling, breaking down in teeny tiny little pieces a situation that happened in the past, remember that, there is nothing you can change about it in the present. It is past. Gone. Finished.
Stop and notice what you are doing to yourself.
Take a long, deep breath.
What are your options from now on?
Tune in to your heart, your gut, your third eye, your instinct.
Choose the one that seems the most kind to yourself (it might be to do nothing and relax!).
Do it. Take a leap. Jump. Fly.
In other words, get out of your spinning, twirling head! Anyway, the answers are rarely up there ; they are in your heart. Connect with it, from time to time. Forget what that stubborn spinning whirlwind of a mind has to say. The heart (almost) always knows the way.
Did you try it? How are you feeling?
Hugs,
Andy L.
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