How Can You Stop Overthinking?
Questioner: Good afternoon, sir. I am in first year. Sir, I usually tend to overthink everyday things, like everyday situations, like even if it’s just my bus not reaching the destination and things like that. So, how do I not let this fear take over myself?
Acharya Prashant: Think of better things. Think of more important things.
Questioner: I fall into this loop of thoughts where I just think about it, instead of actually doing it.
Acharya Prashant: Have something in life that overpowers all the random thoughts. I am talking to you, right?
Questioner: Yes.
Acharya Prashant: I happen to be a busy person. There are so many things that I can alternately think of at this moment. What makes me forget all those things, and frankly to me right now, you’re a stranger. All I know of is your name, to some extent your age the institution you’re affiliated to. That’s all that I know about you. Compared to this, there is so much else that I am involved in. There is my mission, there is my work, and this is a working day and so many people are dependent on me for what they are doing. Why am I not thinking of them at this moment? Because this is, this is important, that’s all.
When you do not have that in your life which is important, when you do not have a sense of the worthy, the result will be that a lot of little things will invade the mind. There is no way to keep those little things away. They are like germs. They constantly keep attacking you. You cannot keep them away; you can only have a strong inner immunity. Is there a way to keep germs away? Virus or bacteria, other kinds of pathogens, is it possible? No, they are everywhere. I keep my hand here, they are here. This air that I breathe in, they are in the air. How do I ensure, I am 100% shielded against them? Not possible. However, there is one thing that is possible which is my inner immunity, and that inner immunity is called importance.
Know what is important and then random things will cease to matter. If you find yourself thinking about unimportant matters too much, it just means that there is a huge inner vacancy for something important, and that vacancy has not been filled. The mind cannot tolerate a vacuum, a vacancy. The mind needs something to chew. You cannot just abruptly bring the mind to a thoughtless state, not possible. So, what to do? As students, as beginners, what to do?
Determine what is important. Honestly give it due credit. And I’d like to say, “Fall in love with it, make it your life.” Then there will be no space to think of random things. And is that not beautiful? Life is pestering you with all the normal trivia and yet you’re not bothered, why? Because there is a mighty inner thing, you have embraced and you simply don’t have the time, the space to look towards anything else.
Is it hot? Yes, it is. Is it cold? Might be. Are you hungry? Probably yes. Do you need a little more money? Of course I do. Care for better clothes? Why not. But sir sorry, in spite of all these things that I might potentially care for, I am occupied. Nobody will ever have enough money. Nobody will ever be able to say, “I do not need more clothes or better clothes.” Nobody will ever say, “All my desires are now satisfied.” That’s not going to happen. Nobody will ever say, “The situations are all perfect.” No. Those things will continuously remain, just like the pathogens we talked of. But along with them, taking precedence over them, an inner sense of importance can remain, and that has to be developed. It won’t just come.
As a young person you need to figure out clearly what is worth doing. What is important in life. Else, here you’re traveling to the college and you’re looking out of the bus window, and you see something happening, something by chance, the usual trivia and it will capture you, and you will find yourself thinking about it thirty minutes, thirty minutes of life gone on? Nothing. And that’s how most of us simply waste away our entire life. On? On?? Nothing in particular.
So, what did you do your entire life? Nothing in particular, though I was always occupied, I was always occupied. But what did you do? Nothing. Ok, let’s say, you get a one-week break, a Diwali break, ten days break. And somebody asks you, “What did you do actually?” Is that not an honest answer? Nothing in particular. And that’s what happens when you have nothing really important to do. You do nothing. At least nothing in particular. And it’s unimaginable, the lengths of time that you can simply squandered doing, nothing in particular. Two months summer holidays spent doing nothing in particular, well nothing in particular.
My driver, I make it a point he drives slowly, so that sitting on the rear seat I do not get disturbed, why? Because commutes take long. One hour, two hours, and I want to read. That’s a dedicated time I get to complete my reading list. Else it’s very possible, to simply say, “I was traveling so I was doing nothing in particular.” And it’s not that you’re doing nothing at all when you’re traveling, you’re doing something. What are you doing? Staring out of the window, looking at something random, in-between you just scroll through the feed, Facebook or something. Type something random on Instagram. Ogle at some nice faces passing by, you don’t know their name. The fellow will be in visual range for 2.2 seconds and yet the fellow becomes so important. Two seconds you stare and then for two minutes you think. You know, by the time the next pretty face comes, you have already forgotten the previous one. And the world can be an unending succession of pretty faces, two hours will fly away.
You did your entire journey doing nothing in particular. The name of the journey is life. Now, death has arrived. And death asks, “So tell me, how was it? What did you do?”
Audience: Nothing in particular.
Acharya Prashant: Well, nothing in particular. Though I was always busy, always busy. You will never find anyone saying, “I have so much time, kindly assign me some tasks.” Ever found somebody, begging for work? No. Everybody is running behind on schedule, right? If you happen to have a to do list at all of any kind, you’re always behind the list. Are you not? So, everybody is occupied doing nothing in particular.
Have one thing worth living for. You will forget when you board the bus, you will forget when the destination has arrived. Somebody will have to prod you to get down. You will be so immersed, that’s a beautiful word, no? Immersion. How do you like it? Immersion. How about that? Does that appeal to you? Immersion? Have you experienced that sometimes? Immersion? That alone is the way to live, if you’re not immersed, you’re scattered. How does it feel to be scattered? Have you experienced that, a state of being scattered inwardly? Have you, have you? Isn’t immersion beautiful? Have you seen how time stops when you’re immersed? And if you can have immersion in your everyday life, that alone is the best meditation.
Are you getting it?
And if you can have that immersion, that is an antidote to all kinds of mental troubles. Otherwise, there is the menace of depression, anxiety and all kinds of mental things, especially among the young. The one who has something to live for, will never be mentally sick. And mental illness is a pointer that life is devoid of essence. I have no time to be anxious, how about that? Are you suffering from anxiety? What’s the answer? I have no time to be anxious. Even anxiety requires time. I don’t have time; how can I be anxious? Are you afraid? I have no space for fear. When fear comes, I say, “Sorry no vacancy. Not that you aren’t great, obviously, you’re great and powerful. The entire world kneels to you, you’re wonderful. But as far as I am concerned, no vacancy.”
Give all your inner space to something that is beautiful for you. Let there be no vacancy. Get a head band — No Vacancy! Or have a t-shirt, straight on your heart here — No Vacancy! Occupied. Engaged.
The knowers in the spiritual domain, they have said, we are wedded already. And not only in the spiritual domain, obviously you know of Bhagat Singh! So, he was just twenty-two or twenty-three when he laid down his life. His mother had approached him once, “You’ll have to marry. You’ll have to marry.” He said, “But I already am.” And she was shocked. How can my son do that? “What’s her name?” And what did he say? What did he say? “Azadi.” So, no vacancy. The girls are all beautiful, but, but, sorry. No vacancy. Meri dulhan ka naam kya hai? Azadi. Already married, no vacancy. And that’s why you remember him today. And that’s why all others have become the dust of time. And Bhagat Singh is immortal, even though he left his body at twenty-three, yet he’s immortal. And there were those who lived long life for ninety, hundred years, and yet as we say, are just the dust of time, who cares for them? That’s the difference.
Have an early wedding, as early as possible. Not the kind of wedding that requires social, religious and legal sanction and ceremonies, an internal wedding. Let nobody know of it. Freedom. Azadi. What do you think, Bhagat Singh had time to think of miscellaneous things? How occupied he was, you know of it. Even, even on the eve of his hanging, he was still reading the Bhagavad-Gita. A copy of that, in fact that particular copy is still preserved. Or was he thinking, tomorrow I will die, what will happen then? Was he thinking? No. He said, “But I still have a few, I still have a few hours. Let me spend these hours with the beloved. I have something very important to do.” Or was he doing nothing in particular? Was he doing nothing in particular, even in his last hours? No. He said, “Let me spend this time in reading.” And he was a voracious reader. At your age, he was so well read. He never had any time to waste.
I don’t know this one is from Bhagat Singh or one of the other great revolutionaries, but they actually mark the last page they read in their favourite book and somebody out of curiosity ask them, “But sir tomorrow you’re going to be hanged, you’ll be no more, why are you marking this page?” And very mystically he said, “Because I have to continue from there.” No time for self-pity, inner misery, sad thoughts, no time. I am busy with the right thing, even in my last moment.
How about such a life? Does it not excite you? It does not it seems, or does it? It does? Be extremely occupied. Don’t be like these, wanton flies or insects. Seen how a mosquito behaves? Sitting here sitting there, or a fly, hoping from here to there. Doing.
Audience: Nothing in particular.
Acharya Prashant: Don’t be like that please.
Questioner: Yes sir.
Acharya Prashant: Sit.
Questioner: Thank you, sir.
