In addition to my comment on the poem, I have some question for Mr. Nguyen. I first must confess that I have not read the book. I read some reviews and had ChatGPT generate an overview of the German version.
Let me set up my question first:
I have some beef with the term overthinking and mindfulness as a solution. Allow me to explain. I th…
In addition to my comment on the poem, I have some question for Mr. Nguyen. I first must confess that I have not read the book. I read some reviews and had ChatGPT generate an overview of the German version.
Let me set up my question first:
I have some beef with the term overthinking and mindfulness as a solution. Allow me to explain. I think that overthinking is a misnomer. It is usually a less controversial word for worrying, and worrying, IMHO, is what the mind does if it does not truly think, thus building a worldview of the negative, which then interprets emotions and sensory input (including words and stories) as worrisome.
Therefore, the better name would be underthinking, even though I get the association. For a mind that has built a negative worldview, the flood of thoughts appears to be overwhelming.
I have come to the conclusion that people who worry a lot can use mindfulness, awareness, living in the moment as a tool to calm their mind, but it is no solution. It is important to build on that calm, by renewing our thinking, as Paul calls it, realizing that we have the mind of Christ.
I can hear the echo of Jesus saying "love your God with all your mind", certainly not wanting us to shut up our thinking, while also saying that we shall not worry what we will eat or wear. This means that worrying is an abuse of our faculty to think, but so is not to think.
What therefore comes after mindfulness, awareness, living in the moment? How would Mr. Nguyen build a new worldview that allows us to truly think, where overthinking never happens because there is no such thing as thinking too much? And I am not talking about mere optimism, positive thinking, or the absolutely shallow management speak of renaming problems challenges.
In addition to my comment on the poem, I have some question for Mr. Nguyen. I first must confess that I have not read the book. I read some reviews and had ChatGPT generate an overview of the German version.
Let me set up my question first:
I have some beef with the term overthinking and mindfulness as a solution. Allow me to explain. I think that overthinking is a misnomer. It is usually a less controversial word for worrying, and worrying, IMHO, is what the mind does if it does not truly think, thus building a worldview of the negative, which then interprets emotions and sensory input (including words and stories) as worrisome.
Therefore, the better name would be underthinking, even though I get the association. For a mind that has built a negative worldview, the flood of thoughts appears to be overwhelming.
I have come to the conclusion that people who worry a lot can use mindfulness, awareness, living in the moment as a tool to calm their mind, but it is no solution. It is important to build on that calm, by renewing our thinking, as Paul calls it, realizing that we have the mind of Christ.
I can hear the echo of Jesus saying "love your God with all your mind", certainly not wanting us to shut up our thinking, while also saying that we shall not worry what we will eat or wear. This means that worrying is an abuse of our faculty to think, but so is not to think.
What therefore comes after mindfulness, awareness, living in the moment? How would Mr. Nguyen build a new worldview that allows us to truly think, where overthinking never happens because there is no such thing as thinking too much? And I am not talking about mere optimism, positive thinking, or the absolutely shallow management speak of renaming problems challenges.