Thinking, over-thinking...

Listening To: You're Not Sorry by Taylor Swift

I have recently come to the realization that I think entirely too much.

I was talking to Mike the other night, having one of our usual Facebook conversations about nothing in particular, and we somehow got on the subject of thinking and the random stuff I think about. Well, now I can't stop thinking about those things. For example, the concept of Opposite Day has eluded me my whole life. I mean, if you actually say the opposite for everything, you end up saying something that's not really the opposite of what you mean at all. Like, for "Everything is beautiful," you would say, "Nothing isn't ugly," which doesn't really make sense at all. At least, it definitely isn't the opposite in meaning, which would be "Nothing is beautiful," or maybe, "Everything is ugly." But then you aren't really using opposites. Not only that, but how can you even tell someone that it's Opposite Day? If you say, "Today is Opposite Day," on Opposite Day, then by the very nature of Opposite Day, you're saying it's not really Opposite Day at all. But if you tell people that it's not Opposite Day, then everyone will be confused and everything you say will get taken the wrong way. (Oh, and "Today is Opposite Day"...what's the opposite of that, anyway?! "Yesterday wasn't a regular day?" That doesn't even make sense!) It's just a big problem, enough of one that I think Opposite Day should be abolished forever.

Another thing I've thought about a lot throughout my life is thinking! There's one that is guaranteed to give you a headache. Just count on it. Seriously, how the heck do we think? It doesn't make sense. Yeah, so there's a bunch of chemical reactions going on and electricity and whatever, but how does that form a concept in your mind? Not only that, but how can you think in concepts, even when you can't put it into words? I don't get it. That used to frustrate me to no end when I was a kid. And by kid, I mean like 5 years old. What 5-year-old thinks about this stuff?!?

Oh, and feelings! Where do they come from? How is it possible to physically feel an emotion? When you're sad, why do you feel a literal pain in your heart? Or when you like someone, why does it feel so weird in your stomach? Where does that come from?!

I don't just think about stupid random stuff, though. I think about people a lot. I like people. I like their differences and similarities and how they interact with each other. I like watching groups of friends, how each person within the group is a totally unique individual, yet there's this general nature or personality of the group as a whole that each person contributes to. I like how total opposites can complement each other and get along perfectly. I like how complex we all are, yet somehow fit together. People are just so cool. That's why I like studying personalites. I gave my whole family something similar to the MBTI test the other day, just for my own amusement. It was so interesting! Like, me and my brother were literally exact opposites (I'm an ENFJ; he's an ISTP). How did that happen? We both grew up in the same house, were raised the same way...yet we're completely different people. So cool. And just look at my group of friends--talk about diversity! We all have very different personalities, talents, and interests, yet we get along incredibly well. I love it!

Something else: How one tiny action on the part of one person can end up affecting another person's life in major ways with this ripple effect kind of thing. Small-scale example: When I was a lot younger, my musical tastes were very limited. There wasn't much range at all; it was pretty much confined to pop-related stuff. Well, I started liking this guy, and his tastes were definitely different than mine. In an effort to have more in common with him, I started trying to listen to some of his music, which introduced me to a lot of new artists. That just had this ripple effect to create my current musical tastes, which are very diverse. If my tastes had never been broadened, I never would have heard a ton artists that I now love. I never would have listened to so many songs that God has used in my life. And God definitely uses music in my life. He speaks to me through songs a lot, and those songs have helped me through a lot of difficult times. But that never would've been possible had I not liked that guy. (Okay, maybe that was sort of a lame example, but you get the idea.)

I also think about my own life and how everything interrelates. That's just a God-thing, in my opinion. It's so cool to look back at different experiences and to be able to see at least part of the reasoning behind why each thing happened. I'm going blank on examples right now, but trust me, there have been countless ones. I like thinking about this in regards to other people's lives, too.

Oh, good grief. Now I've set off about a zillion thought processes in my mind. Excuse me while I go ponder on all of this for the next 3 hours.