6 Signs You Think Too Much
Do you feel like you have a mind that just won’t shut off? If so, you are not alone—many people who come to me report feeling like they have a broken record playing in their head.
God gave you one of the most powerful forces in the universe and it’s right inside your head: Your mind. He purposed you to use your mind for your good and His glory. If you don’t feel like you are living the abundant life and bringing glory to Him, it’s likely that you are not ‘thinking’ the way God wants you to think.
Since everything begins in the mind, if you don’t have peace in your thoughts, you will not feel at peace in your life.
How can you tell if your mind is holding you back?
There are six clear signs that your thoughts are running the show instead of God:
Confusion.
If you find yourself struggling to hear from God, you likely think too much. Hearing from God is a spiritual gift. Thinking comes from the soul—which is comprised of the mind, the will, and the emotions. It’s the soul that takes over and tries to apply logic when you are in confusion. Since God is not always ‘logical’ you would do well to accept Him at His word instead of thinking that you can ‘figure it out.’
Always seeing the negative.
People who think too much have a tendency to always jump to the negative. I’ve yet to meet a person who thinks too much and who regularly experiences a positive thought spiral. Never. It is possible, however, to train your brain to see the positive instead of the negative (which produces further thinking).
A preference for being alone.
Most people who prefer to be alone are considered ‘internal processors.’ This means that they recharge by being alone. While being alone can be rejuvenating for some, for those who don’t have control of their thought process, this can be a trap that leads to further negative thinking
Having trouble sleeping.
It’s bad enough battling negative thinking during the day when you’re trying to be productive, but if you’ve ever tried to fall asleep while your mind is racing, you know that it would be easier to get a butterfly to sit still. Learning how to shift your mind to something stimulating enough to distract from the thoughts but not stimulating enough to stay awake is often helpful. Prayer is one of the best ways to shift your focus from the thoughts in your head to the Giver of Life.
Always doubting yourself.
People who think too much often struggle with perfectionism. If your standard is perfection, you are bound to fall short. This is a big reason why you doubt yourself. Instead learn how to set reasonable, yet excellent, expectations instead of standards so high that NO ONE could reach them.
Frequently tired.
Thinking takes energy. Not the kind of energy that burns off the three donuts you just binged on, but the kind of energy that makes you feel exhausted after having done nothing. People who think too much often report feeling like they can’t shut off their minds and rest. You would do well to learn how to shift your thinking to something more life-giving than the toxic thoughts that are bouncing around in your head like a pinball machine. Pinball is fun, but even that gets tiring after a while.
The worst advice to give yourself is to “Stop thinking so much.” That’s not possible. God likely created you to be a thinker. It’s not that you shouldn’t think, the problem lies in what you’re thinking about.
If you learn how to shift your thoughts, you will be amazed at what God can do in you and through you.
If you need help in learning how to quiet the chaos in your mind and overcome your toxic thinking, take my Overcoming Toxic Thoughts online course and begin to rewrite your story today. Check it out here.
