One of the major phases of life for a chronic over-thinker is that reckless phase when you’re over-thinking, but you don’t know how to direct those energies. It reminds me of the comic book superhero, Cyclops. His “mutant power” is that red lasers shoot from his eyes; destroying everything in its path. Later in his life, he gets a ruby-red visor magically that lets him control his eye lasers, but before someone invented said visor — Cyclops would just constantly shoot lasers at whatever he looked at.
That’s what a young over-thinker does. They just start over-thinking at whatever they’re looking at. Homework assignments, the attractive cash register clerk, the cereal aisle, everything. Unfortunately, over-thinkers don’t get a magic visor to control it. You just have to keep working at focusing onto the right tasks and moments, and shutting it off the rest of the time.
Some days, it’s exhausting to keep reminding yourself to “Hey, shut up. You’re at a beach. Sit there,” or “Hey, it’s fucking cereal. One has almonds, the other doesn’t. It’s okay.”
But it’s what we over-thinkers have to do. Every day, every hour. To the new over-thinkers out there, please don’t eye-laser the innocents. Eye-laser responsibly.
Dynamic Hypocrisy 