I never allow my mind to rest, and it sucks.
I have written about overthinking before, describing it as overflowing. It dives into the gift of having thoughts. It briefly touches upon the harsh parts of overthinking.
It has been over a year since I wrote that article, and I have some overdue, updated perspectives now. Freedom of thinking can really be someone’s worst nightmare.
I feel like I can organize my stressors into two categories: Understandable and Unnecessary
The understandable ones are things that would not be abnormal to stress about. Issues that even if they didn’t cause others stress, people could say, “Okay, yeah, I get that.” They are real experiences that are approaching and will eventually happen in my life.
Understandable stressors would be exams coming up, relationship issues, finding summer jobs or internships, appointments, housing applications, etc. These things will stress me out until it is passed and over.
The unnecessary ones are made up by my mind. When there are no “real” things to stress about, my mind will create things just so my thoughts can be engulfed in doom. According to my brain, I should always be stressed about something.
Unnecessary stressors would be convincing myself that things that can’t happen (because it is impossible) will happen, getting nervous over “accidentally” wishing for something bad, repeating situations in my head that happen earlier in the day, etc. These things have no certainty. There isn’t a date that will come that will make it disappear. I never have to face these stressors in real life.
If my mind has no real-life stressors, it will try to find something else to stress about. There will always be something hovering over me that my mind will pull in. The cloud that stays above my brain is full of unrealistic worries, and when there is nothing left to think about, I will imagine something terrible just to keep the cursed part of my thoughts entertained.
Why do I feel the need to be stressed about something 24/7?Â
The biggest thing I have learned in the past year is taking time to relax. That could be listening to music, watching my favorite show, or hanging out with my friends.
I either need to step away from the understandable stressor or distract myself from the unnecessary stressor.
Overthinking sucks. When I get all worked up about the bad parts, I just need to remind myself that I am OVERthinking and I can just pause and think sometimes. Or I just read my article from last year and remind myself that the freedom of thinking can be a dream if you make it that way.