Overthinking, also known as rumination, occurs when you dwell on the same thought or situation over and over again to the point where it interrupts with your life. Overthinking usually falls into two categories: ruminating about the past or worrying about the future and lucky me, I fall into both categories. Overthinking is something we all do at some point. Everyone worries at least once in their life, overthinking doesn't necessarily mean when you overthink about your grades or future. When you compare your limits to someone else’s strengths, you are overthinking. When you obsess over someone else’s “irrational beliefs,” you are overthinking. When we overthink, we over plan and when we over plan, we overfill our life. I'm an overthinker, and there's no limit to how much I can think about. I think about the most irrelevant things, from the time I almost drowned when I was four to what my life will be like in 20 years. Overthinking has never come to me in a positive way; it is always related to bad or negative thoughts. I mean, who ever overthinks in a positive way? When asked what I should do in this situation, I was always told to "just don't think about it" or "do something to distract yourself." These words are easy to say but really hard to put into action. We are thinking all the time, and yet, we never think about how much time we spend thinking. That might sound like an addiction and if you relate, don't worry because you are not alone. When I eat too much, I would tell myself “I’m overeating, I need to eat less”. When I study too much, I would say “I’m dying, I need to stop studying”. But when I think too much, I can’t just say “I’m overthinking.” I need a different approach to unclog my brain. But the problem is that we don’t consider overthinking as a problem. When someone says that overthinking is bad, we often assume that only negative thoughts are wrong. And by that definition, it automatically means that positive thoughts are good. I think most of us agree that negative thoughts are related to Worrying, Complaining, Anger, Feeling sorry for yourself or Blaming others. Similarly, we can agree that trying to solve problems, Studying, Understanding knowledge, Planning, Visualization and Setting goals are positive thoughts. What most self-help advice says is, scrap the negative thoughts and double down on the positive thoughts. This might sound like good advice but the truth is that when you overuse your brain, just like a drain, it can get clogged. And this will result in Foggy thinking which leads to bad decision making. All that being said, how can you actually help yourself to think less? Researchers have found a 4 step process to stop overthinking..
Allow yourself to forget about yesterday and tomorrow. No matter how much you want to accomplish in the future, or how much you've suffered in the past, appreciate the fact that you are alive. Melina M
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