Over Thinking: The Hobby I Never Asked For

By Hoor Fatima

Listen up folks, Gen Z and Gen Alpha, we've all got that one prestigious, addictive "hobby" we never signed up for: overthinking.  My best hypothesis is that it’s high in nicotine, that’s probably why it’s so addictive. But, on a serious note, we are the chosen ones, the "Over-thinkers." Who else would meticulously plan every detail of a birthday bash or re-analyze that one millisecond eye contact from five years ago? Only us.

Now, let's cut to the chase, the reality of being an over thinker is nowhere near fun. I don't suppose sobbing in your pillow for thirty-minutes straight just because you thought someone was waving at you, but they were waving at someone behind you, is fun. Being an over-thinker is like a scientist scrutinizing everything about their experiment. We just have this habit of re-thinking, and over thinking the most basic, harmless interactions. Why? Mostly because we're concerned about what others think about us. Overthinking is just an elaborate disguise for our constant concern with other people's opinions.

Recently, I was at my aunt's house, I wasn't really eating anything, so everyone was constantly offering me food. There was a plate of peaches in front of me. My cousin gestured towards the fruit, naturally I thought he was offering me the fruit, like everyone else. But, to my unluckiness, he was asking me to give him the fruit. The cherry on top was the fact that he was laughing like a maniac! This embarrassing moment was enough to provoke all the over-thinker cells in my body, allowing me to sob, cry, and even question my existence! However, in my defense, everyone else was offering me nutrients, so it was normal for me to assume he was offering it to me too. He also gestured toward the plate, making it look like he was asking me to have some. Now, I've become a conspiracy theorist, and I'm supposing he purposefully did that to humiliate me- it probably isn't that deep, but my “special powers” don't seem to get it!

Here's another story: A few months ago, my classmate and I were chatting about a "villain-esque" person at school. I remembered a character from a drama, and wanted to share. I started with the drama's name, and I could already tell she wasn't listening. Jokingly, I told her to pay attention, and she yelled back, "I don't want to listen!" That was enough to ruin the mood of the five generations before me. But, I stayed quiet and let it go.

Later, at a school party, she was rambling about some exaggerated, unrelated drama in her life. I listened patiently, but then told her I wasn't interested. Her aggressive response? "I won't tell you anything ever again!" I braced myself for days of silent treatment and avoidance. But to my surprise, she cleared everything up within minutes, saying we were "all good."

A simple, harmless school story, right? Not for my brain! My overthinking mind cooked up the ultimate theory: her aggressive reaction was her true self, and her immediate reconciliation was just a desperate attempt to save her reputation. I genuinely believed this theory for ages until I talked to my cousin. With her no-nonsense look, she said, "Girl, it's not that deep. She was probably just annoyed and then immediately apologized because she realized she was a little rude."

That's when it hit me. I was a full-blown conspiracy theorist, ruining my opinion of a perfectly nice girl, all because my mind couldn't interpret a simple interaction correctly. Am I embarrassed? Absolutely. Do I feel stupid? You bet.

To sum it all up, this blog is just a glimpse of life as an over thinker. There are countless moments in our lives that always twist our stomachs when we think about them! Not really intentionally. Life as an over thinker is a curse. I suppose I need therapy, or maybe I'm just over-thinking my symptoms.

Quote of the day: Over-thinking is not for the weak.