Thinking Too Much想太多
“We think too much and feel too little” by Charlie Chaplin. 我們總是想太多，卻太少去感受--查理·卓別林。 Spoken by the great man, Charlie Chaplin, these words couldn’t hold more truth for the modern age.
We live in a world where the visual objects dominate, and physicality is the only definition of reality. The world has gone mad as we’ve all become entrapped within our heads. The tools we use for our thoughts are only the material ways of living. That is, the average person today has much less social interaction and contact than the prior generations because of the technology of smartphones and social media. People are becoming so concerned with their images in the eyes of others over personal uniqueness and experiences. Gradually, we form all our own thoughts in expectation of situations to harshly judge ourselves and others (想太多) such as, “What if I don’t reach on time?” “What if I do this?” “What if this happens?” “I hope this doesn’t happen.” “I hope the people here aren’t like this.” “I’m so stupid for saying that” and “why did I do that?” …. etc. But, think of that, how about our own internal thoughts in dealing with these different situations? Very often, we are restrained by the chains of our own thoughtful thinking. In fact, there are really so many various ways in which we entrap ourselves within our thoughts, and yet, we don’t see any other ways of living in a lot of cases.
We, then, try to ask ourselves. Why do we enjoy movies? Why do we play video games? Why do we read books? And why do we listen to music? Why are these what we choose to do for enjoyment? Actually, when we watch a movie or read a book, we are no longer trapped within our heads. We are no longer concerned about what might happen tomorrow. We even no longer care whether someone likes us or not. We won’t worry so much of our days and tomorrow.
Imagine that, when we approach an event or situation in our life with loads of pre-formed thoughts, ideas, worries, and opinions, we just feel anxious and lots of passive emotions. Yes, it’s better to let go of our worries, but we all know that it’s not so easy. When we are tormented by constant anxious thoughts, how many of us can get rid of these doubts or anxieties in our normal life? Now, if we can do 5-10-minute meditations every day to listen to our inner voice, we won’t think too much. It can work in terms of calming our internal dialogues. Habit is something created from our instincts or influenced by others in our lives. Our lives today work or exist because of these habits. We always think that we need strong determination to adapt or change habits as we are all victims of failing to try new or changing habits. But, the reality is not because we don’t have determination; it’s something where we are not trying to understand how it works. When a circumstance comes, we usually overthink too much on it. It’s natural to overthink a situation going to happen in the future, and this overthink could keep growing and becoming uncontrollable. Then, it, definitely, impacts our productivity and emotional strength. In this case, we can either stop thinking about it, or challenge our thoughts by asking more positive, realistic ways to look at the situation. In other words, we can train our minds to control and look at the life from a more balanced, less fearful perspective. Thinking too much is really useless at any situations in our daily lives.
The most important thing is that there’s always more room in our life for pleasure, joy, and love, especially if worrisome thoughts have been taking up too much space. As psychologists suggest, “If overthinking is paired with worry, anxiety, and depressing thoughts, using joy can be a great antidote.” We can make time to engage with our favorite activities whether it’s going for a walk or calling a friend or not. Nobody is perfect, and everyone is susceptible to worries and fears. That means overthinking is not a weakness. However, we need to find and try a different tool to enjoy our lives instead of thinking too much. 不要想太多