How many overthinkers do we have here? *Raises hand*. If you’ve clicked on this article, I assume you view yourself as an overthinker too. Well, I have good news for you. You can no longer consider yourself a cripple for having this “issue”. It’s actually a gift! And as with any other gift, to truly benefit from it one would need to understand their gift and know how to manage it. I promise you, your overactive brain is a sign of intelligence. There are ways to curb your overthinking and use it for good instead of letting it drive you crazy.
Overthinkers tend to create crazy scenarios in their head
Usually when we create these fake scenarios in our head, it’s a very grim scene. Something that makes us feel anxious, fearful or angry. Believe it or not, the fact that you’re able to create these scenarios that can make you feel anything at all means you have a powerfully creative mind! Are you aware of what you’re actually doing? You are literally creating different realities in your mind. And because you create them with emotions attached, these realities are very real to you. That’s a major gift! Especially as you learn more about deliberate co-creation. You just have to learn how to harness your ability to internally visualize to create scenes that actually make you feel good.
Related article: The two most important steps in co-creation
Awareness is key for overthinking!
Once you have claimed your badge for overthinking it is time to become aware of when you are doing it. This allows you to stop yourself in the process and re-direct your energy. So, when you notice you’re overthinking something and creating those fake scenarios stop yourself. You can do this by making a weird sound or tapping on yourself. Doing so will distract your mind from your current thoughts.
In this moment you can now re-center your thoughts. Say to yourself “If I can create this scenario than I can also create one that will make me feel good instead.” Then, slowly begin to envision things that make you feel good. Here’s the light bulb moment. Even if you don’t believe that the better scenario is true you can still envision it because guess what? It’s all made up anyway. Technically, the scenario that you created that made you feel anxious isn’t real either. It’s all in your mind. You allowed your overthinking to create it. So, why not use it for the opposite and create something better?
Just as you have allowed your overthinking to hardwire your mind to always see the worst-case scenario; you can re-wire it to always see the best-case scenario.
Related article: Bible scripture decoded: Romans 12:2
The very creative mind
Having an overactive mind can be linked to high levels of creativity. In this article by HuffPost they give different examples of how overthinkers may actually be some of the most creative and super smart people. Sometimes your incessant inner chatter can be beneficial for you because you’re playing out different possible scenarios. Again, you’re actually engaging in witnessing the outcome of different realities. This superpower allows you to find better solutions to avoid undesirable outcomes (or at least try to).
However, this is another reason why becoming super aware of yourself is crucial to effectively manage you’re overthinking. We can sometimes get stuck in the thinking loop. Whereas we’re just letting our thoughts run wild without actually coming up with any solutions. This can also stunt our growth because we’ll get stuck in our heads. It is likened to imprisoning ourselves within our own mind. Next thing you know, days have gone pass and you’re feeling neurotic. Still sitting in the same spot, thinking the same thoughts and worrying yourself to death. Nothing has been done. No solutions or creative ideas have been produced. You haven’t taken any action towards anything. This is when overthinking becomes unbeneficial.
Related article: Feeling stuck in life? Here’s the real culprit and three ways to break free
Here are two tips for managing your overthinking
Journaling
If you’ve never tried journaling, I highly recommend you do. Our thoughts literally want to be expressed. The process of overthinking is a build up of thoughts in your mind that needs to be freed. And journaling is a great way to do that. So, when your mind is on overdrive get a pen and pad and start writing. Write out all of the thoughts that are wreaking havoc in your mind.
Thoughts are energy and all energy need to be expressed in one form or fashion. So, putting your thoughts on paper will free your mind. By doing this, you can actually see your thoughts. You may laugh at yourself and wonder why you were even thinking such thoughts in the first place. Have you ever woken up from a scary dream and as you were telling someone about it you couldn’t help but laugh? Because you realized it wasn’t scary at all. That’s basically what happens when you write out your thoughts.
Journaling is very therapeutic. You cleanse your insides (thoughts and emotions) by freeing yourself of all the pinned-up energy. This is a great process to heal your energetic body.
Meditation
This is my fave go-to for clearing my mind. I like to sit in a silent room, preferably dark and just focus on my breathing. Sometimes I’ll focus on the subtlest sound in the room. When you sit in complete “silence” you can hear sounds you wouldn’t normally hear in a noisy space. Focusing on these sounds or my breathing distracts my mind from my thoughts.
There are other ways to do this though. You can listen to meditation music on YouTube. Or if you’re more of an outdoorsy person, you can go on a nature walk to clear your thoughts. The goal here is to distract your mind in a healthy way for a while. This calms your overthinking and allows you to gain mental clarity. Again, you may realize that those thoughts are not worth so much of your time and energy. Even better, you can receive astounding revelations about your problem and even yourself. These revelations are like food for your Soul. With this replenishment you can better tackle your problems from a higher place of wisdom and without the overthinking.
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