Thinking Week 5

“The person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts, and so he loses touch with reality.”

— Alan Watts

In the final week of this month, we focus on overthinking.

Most of us are probably guilty of this from time to time. We even hear people ask the question, “Am I overthinking this?”. If you are asking that question, you probably are.

Alan Watts’s quote points out how overthinking is, a waste of time because you are so busy thinking you are not living or noticing what is happening in the present moment.  This is when mindfulness, when it is practiced consistently, is so helpful. The key is practicing consistently. When we only practice being mindful and present infrequently people will say it doesn’t work. As with any practice, whether it is exercise or eating well or getting proper sleep, it is not a one-shot deal. When we are in the present moment and life is going well, it trains us to call upon these techniques when we are in stress mode. We are more aware; we recognize the overthinking as unproductive, we are open to a new path. Alternatives would be to write it down or talk through viable options of action, or make the choice of acceptance. When we write it down, it guides us to fact check, is what we are thinking true? 

Changing our thinking mode takes practice, consistency and an openness to retrain our minds. Once we become tired of creating more stress in our lives, it becomes a viable solution.