The subject of overthinking is one that has caught my attention and I’m going to talk about it for a while. 🙂
I’m going to start with something I’ve been thinkin about recently… Before I start I’m going to update that I watch Criminal Minds now (!!!) and I LOVE IT. Its one of the best shows ever. I love it so much- I usually watch it with my sisters or Mama, because we all love it! 😀 (so yeah that’s one of my new favorite shows/fandoms. Except most ‘fangirls’ happen to be adults so I am alone in this fandom but holla it is WORTH IT) (Reid is a cutie pie)
So I thought I’d point that important detail out. Continuing- we were watching a CM episode the other day, and it was about JJ and her husband, a bank robbery, hostages, etc- well, P2 was coming to an end when JJ’s boyfriend had a bomb on him. Emily was with him while the big building was being cleared out, and she started trying to guess the bomb’s password. Well, on the third try, she succeeded. Then a small little box popped open and she had 30 seconds or they would both blow up. (Isn’t that how life works? You overcome one thing and pop surprise)
She saved them, and once she cut the yellow wire, she sat back and JJ’s boyfriend (forgive me I had forgotten his name shame on me and my cow and my family) went ”how did you do that” and Emily said ”I didn’t over think it.”
That means SO MUCH to me.
I myself, can be a pretty big over thinker. Everyone in my family can be. Sometimes, I over think and stress and all that jazz. I have found myself getting much better at not doing that, though. I do over think sometimes, but not near as much as I use to. I think a big part of that is realizing God had everything under control- and mostly, I hated being so stressed out over nothing, or something I made up. Usually, overthinking doesn’t do much.
Sometimes, people around me say they’re trusting God. And then, they’re worrying and stressing- we all know it doesn’t do anything, and since I’ve truly seen none of it helps and just makes matters worse, I try to be firm and not do it.
Now, I do think of things from many different angles.
But is that different from over thinking?
I’ll say it; when I first told my Mama ”hey Mama, I’m making a post about overthinking” her first reaction was ”You’re overthinking about making a post about overthinking?” OK, so maybe the response hurt haha- only because I didn’t finish explaining. For what its worth, I am not always the worlds best explainer. It’s not great for either teams. Moving on- I believe that yes, these 2 things, thinking and overthinking, are different things.
First, I Googled the definition of ‘overthinking’.
Verb; think about (something) too much or for too long.
Overthinking is basically thinking about something over and over and finding all the problems and bad things and making up suck when the suck really isn’t there. (Don’t I have a fine way of speaking?)(Haha) Thinking things from different angles, at the moment my example is what they do on Criminal Minds.
Thinking about something from different angles can also be called analyzing, I suppose. I was also talking about the difference between thinking and overthinking. Thinking is good- screw that, actually, thinking if FANTASTIC. (I love 9)(Doctor Who, I mean) Thinking isn’t bad.
Overthinking is. It makes things worse, and again, doesn’t do anything even if we know this or don’t.
The more I see of my generation- and a few years older and even younger than me- is that overthinking is a big thing. It sort of glides with anxiety, depression, stressing… Overthinking can lead to these 3 things, and to be honest, it usually does. Overthinking really doesn’t do anything. It doesn’t help. It’s just someone stressing over something and instead of dealing with it in a healthy matter- they just overthink and gnaw on it worriedly.
Obviously, not the best thing, right? A lot of people- and let me remind myself and you-, teens and adults alike (!), over think. Sometimes people feel like it’s just them, but really, it never is just you. At some point, everyone overthinks. It’s not a special case- it’s just not a pleasant one.
One thing I’ve seen though, is that yeah overthinking is done, but it seems that not everyone actually wants to NOT overthink. To them, it’s perfectly OK. Like it’s the only way, like there is no other thing for them to do instead. And if they do want to stop overthinking, they don’t know how not to. That’s not OK.
So, I never really thought overthinking was a bad thing. In the beginning, I knew I thought about things over and over again, a lot. But on the Internet, it was famous. Everyone did it. It didn’t seem bad or anything, and since I related to it, I just went on and agreed that it was fine because then, I didn’t see the harm it was doing.
Guess what y’all- its doing harm. I think its high time I bring God’s Word into this deal, because I keep seeing Christians too, overthinking like its fine.
”When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path.” -Psalm 142:3
”Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”-Proverbs 3:5-6
”…Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid.” -Mark 6:50
Let’s start with the first verse. I love it because it speaks the loud truth that some people forget amidst their worrying; that even if you don’t know, even if you’re worrying and feeling anxious or upset- God knows. He knows what He’s doing. He knows what’s happening and what will happen, He has everything under control. Everything is in the swing, whether we like it or not, He will use it all for the better.
The second verse is a top favorite of mine. I just really love it for a ton of reasons but the simplest one is that it’s so very CLEAR. A lot of symbolism is used in the Bible for sure- and yet, SO MANY verses are crystal clear. This is one of those crystal clear ones that is also like 100 steps deep. I’ve lost count of how many times the Bible tells us to trust in the LORD. Maybe so much that as humans, we overlook it and forget how important it is. This verse just states it and gives the instructions- the part that I use for worrying is ”lean not unto thine own understanding”. It’s telling us not to try to figure it out ourselves, or to try to stand on our own understanding (Literally). This verse is telling me to acknowledge Him in everything, not to worry because He is with me and will help me.
The third one is just a blip of a verse and story of Jesus in Mark, but I’ve always loved this sentence of words Jesus said. It just makes me feel better, I guess. I know Jesus Christ said a lot of things, of course, but I just love the fact he said this, and I think we all know He’s saying it to us too.
In the end, worrying and overthinking… No matter what your friends say, or the Internet, or anyone- it isn’t good. It shouldn’t be glorified.
I know that just because I make this post, everyone- including myself!- will just stop overthinking. Because ‘oh its bad a big no no now!’, no, that’s not how it will work. I know. What I’m going to keep trying to do, and pray you will too, is to step by step, day by day- learn to TRUST GOD.
Because I may have said it before, but I worry, I overthink- its likely I won’t stop over night and never do these things again. I’m human. But what I want to do with God’s help, is to glorify Him. And I want to obey His Word. This is one thing God says clearly, is that we should not worry. And I think worrying and overthinking are very close, they walk in stride with each other.
Step by step, day by day- I’m going to try not to overthink and worry. I’m going to trust God, because personally, I think that’s the cure for overthinking. Haha, you thought I’d write an entire post about overthinking and leave it without something I think would solve it? Oh, that’s hurtful! 😉
God says not to worry, God says not to overthink- so why keep doing it? Why think you can’t stop? Why blame it on something instead of facing it and embracing God instead? Doesn’t make much sense to me, and yet I see this happen so often!
Joshua 1:9 – Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God [is] with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Here’s what I quote to that! 🙂 And yet, God has more to say about having faith in God and how He’s with me, and you!
Deuteronomy 31:8 – And the LORD,He [it is] that doth go before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
Deuteronomy 31:6 – Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, He [it is] that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
(These 2 are other favorites of mine ^)
I end this post here. (I need to go watch the new Ninjago episode lol) (It’s awesome how this started with Criminal Minds and ended with the Bible)(If you watch the show you’d understand why it makes great sense)
God bless y’all! And Happy Independence Day, again!
-A
2 Timothy 1:7 – For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.