When the Mind Becomes the Enemy: Overthinking and the Burden of Modern Life
Our lives as humans are very simple, and instead of making them simpler together, we make them seem even more complicated. Our lives are simple. We face problems and challenges, but with them come solutions, and we find solutions to all our problems. Yet, we often feel that our lives are very complicated, full of stress, anxiety, confusion, and self-doubt, and all of this is very common these days. If we think a little deeper, we realize that life isn't as complicated as we make it out to be in our minds. Overthinking is the one thing that makes simple things heavy and very confusing. If you live life in a more easy and simple way, you will realize that life is actually very simple. It's just your mind that perceives it as more complicated.
"Overthinking" in Hindi simply means thinking too much. We keep thinking about all sorts of things unnecessarily, and this often happens when we have nothing to do or are not busy with anything. Usually, this happens to people who are not very motivated in their lives, and it's because they don't have enough motivation, or you could say they spend most of their day wondering what to do. They want to do many things, but they can't figure out how to start, or they lack the courage to take the first step and do the work. Gradually, overthinking becomes a habit.
But if we take a step back, we realize that the basics of life are very simple. We are happy. If we fulfill our responsibilities and take care of others, life is very simple. But overthinking and worrying about too many things leads to unnecessary confusion. We start thinking about our future and forget to live in the present. So, you might have noticed that all the spiritual people, or rather, those who talk about spirituality, all say the same thing: forget the past, and think about the future. In their presentations, they show that what's coming will come anyway; your worrying about it won't change anything. Don't overthink your life; keep it simple, and don't complicate it.
And there's something very important. Nowadays, people ruin their present lives by overthinking. They stop being funny and making jokes. That's why everyone says, Don't change yourself for your future life. If you are happy now, your future life will also be happy. And most importantly, you'll find thousands of people who will try to bring you down, but only one who will make you laugh. That's why laughing in every situation is very important because you'll encounter a hundred situations throughout the day that will bring you sadness, but there will only be one situation that brings you happiness. So just hold onto that one situation and let go of everything else.
One dangerous aspect of overthinking is that we start doing it so much that it gradually creates pressure in our minds, leading to serious problems like depression. We do all this because we don't have anything else to distract ourselves with. Overthinking usually affects people who are either unemployed or those who are studying but not doing well academically. They start thinking things like, "What will happen? I'll fail. People will criticize me. I make wrong decisions. My actions aren't good. Nobody likes me." This kind of overthinking becomes very prevalent. But if you're weak in academics, that doesn't mean academics are your whole life. If you can do something else, then do that. But never let yourself feel like a failure. Always keep doing something, keep yourself busy, and overthinking will automatically disappear.
Life becomes most complicated when we try to control things ourselves. We want everything to happen according to our wishes, but this is never possible because our future is unpredictable, and what is destined to happen will happen. When reality deviates slightly from our expectations, we start overthinking and become stressed. But if something is unpredictable, and yet we try to plan for it, how does that make sense? Therefore, never plan for the future. Don't think about the coming days; focus on today. Work hard today. If you work hard today, your future will automatically be sorted out. If you don't work hard today because you're worried about what will happen tomorrow, then you're only making things worse. Therefore, there's no point in planning for something unpredictable; it will always remain unpredictable.
Lastly, I'll just say that life is very simple. We're the ones who want to complicate it. And I'll also say that you should never overthink or worry too much about the present or the future, because what's meant to happen will happen. No matter how much you try or how much you think about it, you can't change it. Yes, you can work hard to make things better, but you absolutely cannot change the outcome. And never make any plans for the future because the future is unpredictable. If you plan for it, things won't go according to your plan, and then you'll feel sad that things didn't turn out the way you wanted. This will gradually frustrate you a lot. So, never plan for the future, never dwell on the past, and never overthink in the present. These simple things will make your life simple, and you'll be very happy.
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Life becomes really complicated when we try to get everything under control.
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