Thinking Too Much

"You think too much." When people used to say this, I dismissed them outright. I don't believe there is such a thing, and I think the world would benefit from more people giving more thought to their actions, beliefs, motives, and relationships. I figured that was just generally something people say when they feel stressed by what they've heard, don't like the outcome, can't follow the logic, or consider it a killjoy. And I couldn't comprehend how someone could honestly claim true happiness by avoiding truth or being too intellectually lazy to truly explore the unanswered, so I pish-toshed them.

Over time, though, I've tried to adopt a different response. Yes, there are some people who are simply adept at sweeping any unpleasant or difficult questions under the rug and skipping around like an oblivious fool, or those who just don't care about understanding others or identifying ways to improve relationships. But I think more often, what people mean is that sometimes, you just won't be able to discover the unanswered, especially not without more experience and information. So sometimes, when someone says, "Think less," I suppose they really mean something like, "Act more," or, "Don't stress over what you may not be able to know," (often because though I may not find the thinking stressful, they would) or maybe, "You'll never understand everything, so sometimes you'd benefit from letting go of the questions for a time and just acting, getting out and living life to take a risk and see how it turns out, and one day, it may just 'click'." And though I may often hesitate to put it into practice, that I agree with.