I've been told I think too much, which, like the vast majority of things that are said about me, is true. My brain does have a tendency to over-analyze a situation or an important choice, which in turn actually leads to me being more indecisive. Rather than acting on impulse, I see both sides to a story and come out the other end uncertain as to with which option I disagree more.
This blog, for example...less than a week in, and I'm already worrying about the kind of things that I post. I need to constantly remind myself of three crucial points: 1) Blogs are meant to be extemporaneous, showing the real you (more on that in a future post), 2) As long as I don't put too many inflammatory or offensive statements in here, I won't get in trouble for it, and 3) No one cares anyway, because no one probably reads it.
Still, the same mind that enhances my academic performance and verbal skills is also the one that keeps me up all night analyzing the events of the day and trying to figure out what I should have said/done/eaten in lieu of what actually happened. It is possible to shut our eyes and close our mouth; turning off the mind is a trickier task.
It's interesting to note that, just as human beings begin to reach the age of reason and interior thought (that is, as soon as we begin to discover the wonders of our own minds) we immediately start looking for ways to shut that mind off. The things people do to numb their own thought processes is, frankly, frightening. Be it the doping effects of narcotics or alcohol, the euphoria of sexual release, the slow decay of a video screen, or the testosterone-fuelled mob-mentality of professional wrestling matches, everyone is looking for that "perfect high"...that is, a way to stop their brains from thinking so much.
Is intellect a gift or a curse? If we weren't intelligent beings we couldn't have developed the wonders of the world, things like medicine, air travel, and slap-chops. On the other hand, as Neil Innes (composer for the Monty Python troupe) puts it, "How sweet to be an idiot...as harmless as a cloud." Time seems to go faster when you're not thinking about it, which is probably why more intelligent people tend to also be naturally more impatient; they feel the seconds tick past.
Tick, tick, tick...
Oh, well. Just something to think about, I guess.
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