Overthinking 101

Finding that I overthink while completing a test or task; so much so that I complicate a task that if I did half distracted I would do even better and faster. I feel sometimes that my desire to be a perfectionist is more a hindrance than a help. Though I am starting to learn that our strengths have a proper place and time. When they are used outside of their correct parameters they become hindrances instead of values. The real challenge in life is learning to balance. My brothers once compared life to a juggling act where you have to keep tossing stuff up to get to the other stuff you are juggling without dropping anything while you continue this process.

I am also learning that to help unravel why one behaves a certain way you have to look at the motive. For every behavioral pattern, there is a mental thought process that has cleared that behavior to be the most practical response to the presented scenario in which you are facing.

When digging at the root of why I overthink, I have often found that I seek to excel at the task at hand. So in my case overthinking is my solution for a fear of failure or simply my way of wanting to do my best best.

Now do I have to overthink to be at my best? Of course not! As I stated earlier I also noticed then when I was not fully concentrating on the task at hand I often did better and faster. Further proving that the overthinking was a negative reaction to Fear. Obviously, something that deserved to be dealt with. So some people would ignore such patterns or simply do nothing with this information. I want to be the best me I can be. So again I visit my battle against fear and it's access to my behavioral patterns in an attempt to avoid detrimental life-limiting behaviors. I hope you will too.

*Be Bold and Be Brave, or if you are a Trekkie, 'Boldly go where no one has gone before' or your fear room, within your mind palace.(Sherlock Holmes)

Be U!!

Don't be afraid to be you. 

Don't stand from behind and peep over shoulders. 

Don't hold on to hands so tightly you can't let go.

Go on ahead and give yourself permission to be you. 

Stand and stand up for your own ideas, you are worth it!

Value your own opinion because it is of value.

You are worthwhile.

You should love you cause after all you define your own beauty.

Beautiful you, wonderful you, wonderfully and awesomely made you.

Go forth and be you.

The Art of planning

The art of planning is simply the ability to imagine a host of scenarios. Plan A is the plan you are hoping to run with. It's the one that happens in a perfect world. When Plan A gets to be executed then you are on cloud nine where you feel as though the world loves you and you can do no harm. When you make it to Plan B, usually some portion of Plan A has not occurred or you've just missed the mark in a crucial step that keeps a plan A from being successful. So if you are anything like me you have plan C, D, E, and sometimes even and F.

 If anything, I've learned in this world is a plan can be the best thing in the world. Then there are those times when a plan is just simply a curse from a magical kingdom, just trying to build your imagination of possible horrors that are so far out of control or reach. Simply put the Art of planning is knowing when you need one and what type of plan you need. If you are an off the road type of person then you probably say who needs a plan just go. That is the irony of life, not planning is still a plan. Cause somewhere in the recess of your brain you've envisioned some sort of outcome or gain.

Though the truth in life is those who find some element of their plan, whether concrete or abstract and focus as with a mad man like intensity eventually find success, as long as they don't give up. So a good plan will have an element that you can focus on no matter how distracting your environment, You or the people around you become. Yes, You. You are a distraction to your own self. The difference between someone who keeps going and someone who gives up along the way is You. Not letting You become a distraction to the decided focal point of your life plan is the essential element to any success. Rember that focusing like a mad man on one element for sometimes even years can have anyone doubting themselves to be sane. But to have a mad man like focus it takes some sort of insanity. The truth of life is balance or as my Dad says too much of anything is bad for you. So know that your success might be determined by your willingness to be a certifiable nut for a period of time. How ok are you with that notion. See that's how You hinder You.  'Bend like the grass so you do not break'- Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya