The sign that we're overthinking is that whatever we're doing starts to feel difficult and we start to feel more confused and urgent. The more we think, the more we get lost in our thoughts. Often our life training, or our inclination, is to keep trying harder to figure things out. But the feeling of confusion or urgency that arises is a warning sign that what we really need is to quiet down, give our thinking a rest, and get a fresh start. It doesn't require a long time, just a clear mind. When we're making something too hard, the focus turns personal -- we start thinking we should be able to do this, or we can't afford to fail... The relief of just stopping, glancing away, slowing down, giving ourselves a minute, brings us back to the moment and opens our minds to fresh, clearer ideas. A colleague often refers to this as like a deer finding its way through the woods; it will stop often, look around, sniff the air, and stay quiet for a bit until it "sees" where to go next, then set off again.
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