14 Things All Over-Thinkers Will Understand

I don't know who's to blame for creating a generation of over-thinkers, but I blame...someone. I think. Maybe it's 'cause we're overly sensitive and wicked smart? Could that be why we're so introspective? But whatever - we cool, we cool.

If you're an over-thinker you might relate to and understand at least one of these things:  

When we say "we’re sorry," we mean we're really sorry. If we feel like we’ve hurt your feelings, what you didn’t see is the hours we spent going over every single detail of our fight. Seriously, rest assured knowing that whether you accept our apology or not, this will not soon be forgotten.

We’re not insecure control freaks, we just think. A lot. I mean you don’t have to call us back right away when you’re out, but just know that our mind is playing out a bunch of horrible scenarios in which you’ve cheated. Or died. That’s right, if we reach your voicemail, we can’t help but consider that you might not be alive.

Our critical thinking skills are pretty on point. Seriously, we have mastered the art of interpreting what people really mean by what they say.

But our friends don't seem to appreciate our analytical ninja skills. They end up saying “you are so over-thinking this I can’t even,” when we proudly tell them that we’ve figured out what something really meant. 

Sleep is probably the most difficult aspect of our lives. Laying silently in the dark without any distraction inevitably makes us sink into our racing thoughts.

God forbid someone unfollows us on Instagram or unfriends us on Facebook. We won’t rest until we figure out who it was and why.

We delete texts, hesitate over writing emails and Facebook messages, delete and re-write tweets. All because we could and should have said something other than what we did. It takes us forever to write an important message. Okay, basically any message. 

When we go out we can be the life of the party - if the party is authentic and exciting (and has enough alcohol), we can live in the moment. Until the hangover. The next morning we are left in fear of what we could have said to that one person we'd rather die than act like an idiot in front of.

Of course, any pain in our body leads to us imagining the worst case scenario. We need someone to talk us off the ledge, and tell us they've experienced a pain similar to the one we're describing.

We can’t let things go easily. We’re convinced that if we run over the details of a few more times, it will somehow change the outcome and we will uncover some new understanding of the situation.

We send a lot of screenshots of stuff…and evocative details. We need second opinions.

We actually enjoy a break from our heads. If someone takes us somewhere stimulating enough that we won't have to be mind-numbingly introspective for once, we’ll love them forever. Well, you know.

What did they mean by “I'll see you soon?” What does “soon” mean? Like soon soon? Or "soon"? We like when someone makes our lives a little less complicated and tells us straight up what they mean. I mean, we’ll probably spin it to mean something more, anyways, but it's still nice. 

If we meet someone that makes us live in the moment, we'll hang on to them for life. Or as long as we possibly can. 

20 Things Over-Thinkers Are Tired of Over-Thinking About

Only a true over-thinker can understand the struggle of daily life. I'm convinced that we're just really sensitive and need a lot of mental stimulation so that we can live in the moment and not be so damn introspective.

Either that or our brains are just too big and maybe one day we’ll find the deep, secret, hidden meaning of life and the universe will benefit from our constant over-analyzing. What? I don't know...but if you're an over-thinker you’re probably tired of thinking about at least one of these things:

1. What you may have said to that one person while you were drunk and…were you also acting like an idiot?
2. What that off comma or period placement in a text means. 
3. Whether someone’s feelings were hurt because of something you said. Or didn’t say. Or wanted to say differently, but you’re pretty sure it came out wrong... 
4. Getting the voicemail of your significant other, and playing out a bunch of horrible scenarios in which they've cheated. Or died.  
5. Whether or not you should have sent that message. 
6. Why your boo texted that person. Despite their totally rational and reassuring explanation, there are at least a billion other scenarios you can come up with, inevitably making your life about a billion times more difficult than it has to be. 
7. Counting sheep and then trailing off into thoughts about wool, sweaters, the differences between sheep and goats, and a million other inconsequential things. 
8. Whether or not that selfie actually looks dead ass creepy or basic. This is going to be a strenuous selection process...
9. If so-and-so used that emoji because they’re flirting with your boo, and so on and so forth.
10. If you chose the right school and major. 
11. If you chose the right brand of bread at the grocery store. 
12. Thinking about the same details of a situation or relationship again and again, even though you never really arrive at a different conclusion.
13. Why the hell that person keeps staring at you.  
14. That banal side comment someone made and what it really means. 
15. Why they liked your picture, followed you, initiated a conversation, but aren’t asking you out.
16. What misstep you made to make that person suddenly appear to be disinterested. 
17. Thinking all the possible worst-case scenarios that could happen when you feel a random pain in your body.
18. Whether or not you ordered the right thing from the menu. Dining options have, like, pros and cons about each of ‘em...how are you suppose to choose??
19. Why your love liked that person's picture. Are they secretly talking? Are they meeting up behind your back? Why! Why?
20. Stressing out about a meeting or presentation because of course, you already played it out in your head, and think worst case scenario will come true.

12 Things You Need to Know Before Dating an Over-Thinker

For anyone that’s an over-thinker, you probably understand the struggle to fight the need to find meaning in everything on a daily basis. And sleep? Laying silently in the dark with no distractions from our racing thoughts makes it the most difficult aspect of our life. We can't help over-thinking - our brains are just too big! Or something.

Before you get involved with an over-thinker there are certain things you should know:

When you text us, just say exactly what you mean. Since we're already over-analyzing everything, we don’t need any more exercise for our brains. We hate games, especially texting games. Our need to find meaning in everything will usually build up conspiracy theories in our minds about what the period placement in your text means. Just tell us straight up what you mean.

You decide where we’re going to eat. Otherwise we’ll both go hungry. And die. Don’t give us dining options, we'll give you pros and cons about each of ‘em, as we begin narrowing down our choices. Don’t do that to us. Just pick a place.

We’re not jealous insecure control freaks, we’re just constantly thinking. That usually ends up with our minds playing out a bunch of horrible scenarios in which you’ve cheated or died. So when we call or text you, just text us back. It’s one less thing we have to think about.

Please don’t take us on a typical first date where we end up interviewing each other. We hate small talk. We like things that are stimulating enough that we won't have to be mind-numbingly introspective for once.

If we hurt your feelings and say we’re sorry, we are genuinely really sorry, so please accept our apology. Rest assured knowing that we have gone over all the details of our fight a million times over. We’re full of regret that we’ve upset you and this will not soon be forgotten.

You can come to us with any problem. Seriously we love it, we have mad analytical ninja skills and we’ll tell you what that bitch really meant.

You can laugh at us and tell us when we’re over-thinking when we proudly tell you that we “figured out” what someone “really meant” by something. It's cool. We actually love a break from our heads. If you can make us live in the moment we will worship the ground you walk on. Or something, I don’t know. Just don't be afraid to challenge us, okay?

We have soft, gooey centers under the hard exteriors. Could be why we are so introspective, but whatever, that’s dumb, we cool, we cool.

You’ll be getting a lot of screenshots and vivid details. Take it as a compliment. It means we trust you with our rich inner worlds and value your opinion.

“What is that random side pain? Is that normal? *googles symptoms* “WHAT!” Please relieve us and tell us you’ve experienced a pain similar to the one we're describing.

We can't let things go easily. We're convinced that if we just run over the details one more time, we'll finally uncover some new understanding of the situation or it will somehow change the outcome. But that also means we remember everything. So don't try to bullshit us. We'll always find out the truth and our comeback bank is always fresssssh. I mean c'mon, you had to know the billions of hours we spent thinking had to count for something.

If you make us live in the moment, we'll hang on to you for life. Or until we start over-thinking again (just kidding.) But for real, we love to be in the moment, it’s just hard to find people stimulating enough for that.