I’ve been doing a lot of deep thinking lately. A lot of deep thinking and freaking out about stupid things. Some things are worth being concerned about, like a heavy wooden beam, creaking and cracking above when you’re trapped under a stainless steel statue of Toucan Sam during a housefire or paying back your student loans. Other things are stupid to be concerned about to the point you fret all day, because it doesn’t help you get through them.

I’ve learned something that was seemingly obvious. Thinking too much makes me tired. I guess that makes sense, right? Thinking must take energy, like a computer uses energy without any physical movement. Thinking in circles is probably a lot like running circles. You get tired and go nowhere.

In this example, if I spend all day worrying about how I’m going to come up with $500 for my penguin’s glass-eye operation, should I purchase a penguin and his eye fail him, then I get nowhere as a result of my efforts. If I think about how awesome it would be to find said penguin and befriend him, I feel good about that and I’ve made some progress.

If I am feeling pretty good already, let’s say even “perky”, and I drink an energy drink on top of that, my mind is bounding across the giant mushrooms, bouncing top to top, across the landscape. One moment I’m helping a friend solve a problem and another I’m writing a ridiculous blog post. I’m excited about my lunch because it’s a friend’s leftovers and it’s pizza, and I’m coming up with ideas faster.

My job has a lot to do with ideas, and for that I am very lucky, but more ideas doesn’t mean all good ideas. On the other hand, the more you do, the higher your chance of success is, right? I read once that if you write down a hundred ideas for what you’re working on, including the most ridiculous and stupid ideas you can come up with, you’ll wind up with several golden solutions. Try it, it really works. You have to rack your brain. (WTF does that even mean?)

I wish I could say that I was done over-thinking and worrying about everything, but it’s part of me. It’s a part I would love to get rid of. It’s a part I would like to medicate away. Really though, it’s probably tied into other parts of me, affecting them to make me balanced the way I am right now. Maybe what I need is just to worry less, and have more fun. That sounds like a good solution.

What’s your favorite sandwich (hot or cold) ?