To put it bluntly, we can't alter the future. Whatever happens, happens. But, we can trust in ourselves, and in the people we love, to always come through and choose kindness above all else. Oh, and honesty; that's important, too. And if the outcome isn't as we had hoped, then we can trust that we can make it out just fine. Because we've already come this far. We can learn from it, heal as we need to, and move on. We're always going to come across obstacles, but that's just what makes us tougher.

Think of consciousness as a ball of awareness that moves in and out of your body. When you’re lost in thought, your ball of awareness hovers inside your mind, bouncing around like a pinball with all the what-ifs scenarios you’re thinking of (“What if this happens? What if that happens? What if I’d done things differently?”). If you take a second to notice the fine details of an object in your environment, like the lines and colors of your wood desk, your ball of awareness leaves your mind and hovers over the desk. For her, the Merriam-Webster online dictionary's definition of overthinking is the most precise, when it comes to defining the issue. This is: 'To think too much about (something): to put too much time into thinking about or analysing (something) in a way that is more harmful than helpful.'The Mindful Guide to Conflict Resolution offers a practical, easy to learn approach to communication, PAUSE, that will support you during difficult situations and conversations, when you’ve decided to let go of overthinking your communication challenges. It’s nearly impossible to think your way out of overthinking – even if you devise a perfect plan, your mind will continue to race if your anxiety remains elevated. Much like crossing yourself after walking under scaffolding or freaking out about a pair of Stan Smiths being placed on your kitchen table, worry can be understood as a superstition. Pieter R, Nababan D, Ariawan S, Listio S, Ruben S. Improving interpersonal skills to overcome the negative effects of overthinking in the disruption era. BIRCI-J. 2022;5(2):10632-10642. doi:10.33258/birci.v5i2.4876

In this book summary, you’ll learn three highly effective ways to reduce anxiety and regain control of your mind (when your mind is overthinking).But, he adopted a new philosophy when he went to visit India, a country he describes as overcrowded and wildly unpredictable…Which turned out to be great because people simply live in the moment there, and don’t have that much time to worry and overthink.

The book is an interesting read, and it has a fun way of showing how you can overcome overthinking about the future by embracing the benefits of chaos and living in the moment. Another detrimental flaw was the "real life stories" that were implemented throughout the whole book. There was a few I liked and felt were relate-able, but once a sentence started with "Take Jill for example," I could not help, but roll my eyes and try to prepare myself for an unrealistic circumstance. The stories were like something you would have read in school and to then be tested on. See? A better idea is to work at challenging your thoughts, as mentioned above. 5. Some people are more prone to overthinking than others

For chronic overthinkers, this habit can take a heavy toll on their mental health, so much so that mental illness can result. If you are part of this club, below are some of the best books for overthinkers that may help you get out of this. Although I usually appreciate the addition of supplementary material to just about any book, I felt that there were a bit too many kitschy illustrations included here for my tastes... Conduct a counter-belief experiment by test driving the counter-belief – spend at least one minute living as though the counter- belief is true > Live the next sixty seconds believing you are adequately prepared for your presentation to see how that affects your anxiety. Kaiser BN, Haroz EE, Kohrt BA, Bolton PA, Bass JK, Hinton DE. "Thinking too much": A systematic review of a common idiom of distress. Soc Sci Med. 2016;147:170-183. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.10.044