Overthinking

Oh, how an inability to turn my brain off can take its toll on my wellbeing! As well as the physical strain of being awake more hours than my body can handle, there is the mental struggle of fighting untruths my subconscious mind tries to sell me. Even more than that is the way I find it increasingly difficult to reach out to family, friends, and God, when I let my mind run completely of its own accord down unhealthy avenues.

Sometimes we are going to get things wrong. This is part of being human. This is not something to be dwelled on, and if we’re not succeeding at everything we try it probably means we’re trying new things. No amount of thinking and planning through every iteration of a certain course of action will eliminate the risk things will turn out differently than we would have hoped. Yet, that won’t stop our minds trying to navigate the multitude of labyrinths certain choices will lead to.

Here are two examples from my own life which I hope are helpful.

When I decided I wanted to write a book and have it published, my knowledge of how to do this was limited. To be honest, at the present moment I am still in the fledgling stage of learning how to publish a book. This has not stopped me writing and editing my manuscript, sharing parts of the story with people for feedback, or practicing my writing skills. If I had spent large amounts of time worrying about how much of the publishing process I am unfamiliar with, it would have eaten into the beautifully productive time that has brought me this far. My manuscript is in the hands of a group of beta readers, who have offered to provide me with feedback once they have read through it. While this is happening, I am working my way through a second edit of the manuscript, alongside searching for editors and subject experts who would be willing to help me bring the manuscript closer to publishing-ready. Again, if I had spent too much time in my own head working through all this myself, I would have run in circles, instead of seeking people who know about the things I don’t and are willing to help.

Some people we meet we click with straight away. They’re like friends we’ve known for years, even if we’ve only known them a few weeks. If we want to embark on a journey to talk about taking things further than friendship, there needs to be action. One person needs to embrace the courage to take the first step into the unknown this conversation will bring. What happens in my mind before this step is taken, is deep thought about all the different paths this conversation could take. I can only ever know one part of this interaction, my own, as I am but one piece of this everchanging puzzle. In the past my mind has defaulted to the negative outcomes a conversation like this could take – with little to no evidence for thinking this way! Regardless of the outcome, the benefits of stepping out of that safe, pseudo-comfortable, little box, even for a moment, are too much to ignore. Due to this drastic overcomplication of things in my mind, I became an iceberg – sometimes moving even slower than that – when trying to express how I feel about someone.

Thankfully, it’s not always about me. Sometimes God’s plan unfolds without me even realising it.

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Are there certain areas of your life where you contemplate the possibilities for too long instead of taking action?

How can you embrace courage and put your best foot forward in these situations?

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You are brave. You are courageous. You are loved.

Keep on keeping on being awesome.

PEACE.

Cover photo by Brett Sayles from Pexels.