Too Busy Thinking

An over-active brain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am sure that most of you were not born when the song came out. I have to admit that even at my seasoned age I was not born but I remember when the oldies but goodies would come on the radio, my mother would know the words to the song.  She would happily sing to the radio.  For those of you who have been around for a few decades or a lovers of old music.  Are you aware of a song recorded by the Temptations called:

Too busy thinking about My Baby

I know. Some of you are thinking: Who are the Temptations?  You know that I am rolling my eyes at you right now.   You need to Google The Tempations or go on You Tube and find a video.  But just to save you a little time and I don’t want you to leave before finishing this article.  They were a cool group back in the sixties and seventies when folks wore bell bottoms and when you could get a little free loving and hitch hike with a really good chance of making it home safe.  Well, I know that you all know who Marvin Gaye is. Right?  Well, he later recorded the song and made it a little bit more sensuous and fun.

I know you want to know why I am bringing up old folk’s music.   In the song, Marvin says that he has “no time to discuss weather” or “think about what money can buy”, because when he thinks about his woman, “I ain’t got time for nothing else”.

I bring this up because I do a lot of thinking. And sometimes when I am doing all of this thinking, I find that I “don’t have time for nothing else.”  I think so much sometimes that it wakes me up in the middle of the night.  It stops me for completing tasks during the day. I would show you my pile of laundry but frankly, I am too embarrassed to show you the turmoil that thinking has caused in my laundry room. If I don’t stop all of this thinking and put some things in action  I am going to have to hit the local John Lewis for some clean items.

Do you ever let thinking get in the way of doing?  I am guilty of over thinking most things that I do.   I would like to call it insecurity.  My spouse says that I am a planner. I like to say that I just have an overactive brain.  I try to think about everything that I do because I don’t want to disappoint, get it wrong, have to redo it, and even worry about being criticized because someone else may have done it differently and/or better.  And since we are admitting things in black and white for the world to see, I really care about what people think about me.  So I think about that a lot. I want to please and make sure that others are pleased with me.

Does Thinking Make You Procrastinate?

The truth be told that I am a procastinator. It is true that I can be insecure and at times I think most of my problems lie with the fact that I would rather be doing something else.  Let’s admit it, how many of you love to do laundry?   I am sure there are very few of you with your hands raised at this moment!

How many of you would rather be cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming the carpet, washing the windows, ironing, scrubbing the tub or–even worse– the toilet?  I am sure that a lot more hands went down when I asked the second question.

So would I rather be thinking than doing? You betcha!

When does too much thinking hurt you?

We can joke about people who over think things.  The truth is that sometimes too much thinking can be unhealthy.  And it is not unhealthy because you can appear a slob because you are not taking care of your household chores. Over thinking can be become an issue when it makes your paranoid.

We are all guilty of over thinking relationships.  I am sure that most of you remember high school when a boy or a girl would talk to you.  If it was someone that you liked, it took on a whole drama mama hold the press national news scenario.  The next thing you were doing was blowing up your friends’ phone and over analyzing everything that he or she said.  And it could have been something as simple as he or she said, “Hi!’ or bumped into you and said, “Excuse me!’  As a teenager when hormones are maxed out and the last time you were kissed was well never, you should be over thinking everything.   Or figure out how to tame the beast with a kiss.  Now you will notice that I said a kiss. I don’t want you to think that I am promoting teenage sex.  I think that everyone should wait until they are at least twenty-five. I am going on the record with that one.  Did I follow that advice? Heck no! But now that I have a child, I am rethinking my path to the lusty promise land.

What happens when you carry that same immaturity into adulthood where you are over analyzing every person that you meet and their intentions?  Things can get a little unhealthy.

Overthinking can

Ruin relationships.

Cause you to over react.

Cause insecurities based on mind-generated fears.

Turn your imagination into reality.

Limit your employment opportunities.

Alienate friends and family.

Interfere with forming long-term relationships.

Cause depression.

Impact your mental health.

Ways to Overcome

Earlier, I painted a little scenario about my laundry.   Do you know why?  Doing my laundry would be a way to overcome my overthinking.  Have you ever heard the saying: “Idle Hands are the Devil’s Workshop?” I think there is a lot of truth to that.  So if you are guilty of overthinking consider:

Getting up and doing something.

Writing a novel.

Starting a blog.

Going to  exercise.

Cooking something (healthy, of course! Don’t blame me for weight gain.)

If you are an over thinker, you can do something to help yourself cope by getting up and doing something.  So the next time that you find that you have been sitting in the same place for hours overthinking and creating havoc in your mind about a situation that probably does not exist, GET UP AND DO SOMETHING ELSE!   The people around you that are innocent victims of your overthinking will thank you for it.  But most importantly, you will feel better.

Happy Thursday!

Cynthia

 

Resources:

Too Busy Thinking About My Baby

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_Busy_Thinking_About_My_Baby