Leading Light | You Are Overthinking Yourself To Exhaustion

Last Updated:August 29, 2025, 10:42 IST

Don’t try to hold on to your thoughts. Let them come and go like clouds in the sky. The mind is a small fragment; you are vast

If you keep worrying about yourself, your own problems, and your desires all the time, then you will soon end up feeling depressed. (AI Generated)

We keep thinking, “This is happening to me, that is not happening for me.” Or “I want this, and I don’t want that”. Or “what I did there was so wrong, what I did here was right. What will he/she think of me? Am I arrogant? Am I humble?” Your mind is constantly on the run, busy thinking about the future or the past.

When you are overthinking or over-analysing, two things can happen. One is that it can make you feel very righteous. When you feel righteous, you invite anger. If you observe angry people, you will often find they have a deep sense of self-righteousness. Or, on the other hand, suppose you find that you are not right, you will end up feeling guilty. It is a catch-22 situation.

Most of us know how useless worrying is, and yet the mind worries. Your intellect tells you, “Oh, this is pointless, and I shouldn’t be worrying”, but you continue to think about the same thing over and over again. It completely tires you and drains you out.

How do you deal with this? You try all that you can-take a cold shower, listen to loud music, and walk outside. What you need to do is just laugh at your own mind, “Ah, dear mind, what games you play! Go ahead. I will watch.” The moment you become aware and allow the mind to be, the poor mind does not know what to do anymore, and it quietens down.

Introspection And Not Overthinking

While overthinking or over-analysing can lead to self-righteousness or guilt, introspection is the beginning of the journey for a seeker. If the question “who am I?” has occurred in your mind, you should consider yourself very fortunate because you feel there is something more to life besides eating, drinking, and sleeping. In our Art of Living programs, we begin by asking participants: “What is it that you want in life?”

This question is the first step for a spiritual seeker.

If you keep worrying about yourself, your own problems, and your desires all the time, then you will soon end up feeling depressed.

Adopt the middle path. Analyse, reflect, and then let it go. Like a honey bee, take the lesson from every event and move ahead. Don’t get stuck. Don’t sit and regret what has happened – neither about what you have done, nor about what others did to you.

Everything Blows Away

We are caught up in a whirlpool of our thoughts. But have you observed what happens when the wind blows? Everything, the dust, leaves, twigs, they all get carried away with the wind. Similarly, whatever happened in the past, whether good or bad, right or wrong, pleasant or unpleasant, has been swept away by time. None of it is present here.

Your overthinking is about what people are thinking about you; whether they think well of you or not, isn’t it? Everyone has been praised some time or the other, and been criticised too. When someone praises or criticises you, know that they are just some passing thoughts in someone’s mind. People change, and so do their thoughts and opinions. Haven’t your own judgments about people changed over time?

Just see people walking around as ragdolls made up of the five elements. They are acting the way they do because of their karmas (actions) and samskaras (impressions). And, one day, everything will end. Now, when people themselves are not going to be here forever, what permanence can you attach to their thoughts?

Nothing Is In Your Control

You are trying to control people and situations, and that brings a lot of anxiety and restlessness. Wake up and see, are you really in control? What are you in control of? Perhaps a tiny part of your waking state! Isn’t that so? If you think you control someone, or are under the control or influence of someone, you are mistaken. Everything in this world operates according to certain laws of nature. You are not in control when you are sleeping or dreaming. You are not in control of the thoughts and emotions coming to you. You may choose to express it or not, but they come to you without your prior permission!

When you look at life from this angle, you need not be afraid of losing control, because you have none! Whether you realise it or not, when you let go of your sense of control, that is when you truly relax. Your identification of being somebody does not let you relax totally, and it limits you. So let go!

Don’t try to hold on to your thoughts. Let them come and go like clouds in the sky. The mind is a small fragment; you are vast. Once you see this difference, overthinking drops, and life becomes light, like air.

The author is a humanitarian leader, spiritual teacher and an ambassador of peace. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.

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Author: News18