We all seem to have this natural tendency to want to dissect everything in our lives and put it in neat little labelled boxes. When we come to a challenge that we cannot overcome immediately, however, our minds begin to spin and spin, working out a multitude of possibilities and probabilities until we find something we can make logical sense of.
Then finally, once we have formulated any means by which to solve our equation sufficiently, we let our minds rest. This form of mental processing is hard on the mind, and as we have witnessed, the repercussions of an overworked, over-stressed society are devastating.
Overthinking, in my opinion, stems from a lack of trust. It is the overuse and abuse of the mind, falsely representing itself as ‘control’.
We tend to think that the more we can manipulate a situation, the more power and control we exude over it. But the more we attempt to control our own circumstances, the more we rob ourselves of the beauty of what could have and should have naturally unfolded should we had only trusted and given ‘life a chance’.
It is the way of no way, so to speak, and when we meditate, we practise letting go by the meaning of mindful breathing. We breathe in, and we accept. We breathe out, and we release.
Meditation is beneficial because it teaches us to calm ourselves and release our resistance to everything we can’t control. Because in truth, we cannot control anything. It teaches us to trust.
So if you are an overthinker, right now, I want you to shut it off, shut it down and take comfort in knowing that we can’t plan everything out to the last detail. Sometimes we just need to have a little faith; sometimes, we need to get out of our own way, and if we do, we might just find that the path we were looking for was already waiting for us.
1. “Eventually, all of the pieces fall into place. Until then, laugh at the confusion, live for the moment and know that everything happens for a reason.”
2.“Don’t overthink things. Sometimes you can convince your head not to listen to your heart. Those are the decisions you regret for the rest of your life.” ~Faith Barnett
3. “One of the happiest moments in life is when you find the courage to let go of what you can’t change.”
4. “I’ve got 99 problems, 86 of them are completely made-up scenarios in my head that I’m stressing about for absolutely no logical reason.”
5. “Don’t think it complicates things. Just feel and if it feels like home then follow its path.” ~R.M Drake
6. “Sometimes the best thing you can do is not think, not wonder, not imagine, not obsess. Just breathe and have faith that everything will work out for the best.”
7. “Your mind is your instrument, learn to be its master and not its slave.”
8. “The key to happiness is letting each situation be what it is instead of what you think it should be.”
9. “Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being positive about what could go right.”
10. “Stop worrying about how it’s going to happen and start trusting that it will.”
11. “Don’t believe everything you think.”
12. “We often want it so badly that we ruin it before it begins. Over thinking, fantasizing, imagining, expecting, worrying, doubting. Just let it naturally evolve.”
This article was originally published here at isoulscience.com July 31 2016.