Overthinking Is Avoiding an Emotion
Most people think overthinking is a thinking problem.
It’s not.
It’s an emotional avoidance strategy.
A very intelligent one.
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We sit there replaying conversations.
Analysing decisions.
Trying to “figure it out.”
But underneath all that thinking… something much simpler is happening:
There’s an emotion we don’t want to feel.
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As Joe Hudson teaches, the mind will do almost anything to keep us from feeling something that doesn’t feel safe.
So it creates activity.
Thought loops.
Scenarios.
“What ifs.”
Rehearsals.
Not to solve the problem…
But to keep you busy enough so you don’t have to feel.
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Thinking Feels Safer Than Feeling
If you really slow it down, you’ll notice something.
Every time you start overthinking, there’s a moment just before it.
A flicker.
A sensation in the body.
Tightness.
Heat.
A drop in the stomach.
That’s the emotion.
And almost instantly, the mind steps in and says:
“Let’s think about this.”
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Because thinking feels like control.
Feeling feels like vulnerability.
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Overthinking Is a Distraction
You’re not trying to solve your life.
You’re trying not to feel:
- Rejection
- Shame
- Loneliness
- Uncertainty
- Not being enough
So the mind creates a maze.
And you walk it, believing there’s an answer at the end.
But there isn’t.
Because the exit isn’t through thinking.
It’s through feeling.
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The Shift (That Changes Everything)
Instead of asking:
“Why am I overthinking this?”
Try asking:
“What am I unwilling to feel right now?”
Then pause.
And go to your body.
Not your story.
Not your explanation.
Your body.
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This is where Joe Hudson’s work is so powerful.
He doesn’t try to fix your thoughts.
He brings you back to direct experience.
Because once an emotion is fully felt…
It doesn’t need to be avoided anymore.
And the thinking naturally stops.
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Feeling Is Faster Than Thinking
This is the part most people don’t realise.
We think avoiding the emotion is easier.
But it’s not.
You can overthink something for days… weeks… years.
Or…
You can feel the emotion fully in a few minutes.
Let it move.
Let it complete.
And come back to clarity.
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Your Mind Isn’t the Enemy
Your mind isn’t broken.
It’s protecting you.
It learned, at some point, that certain emotions weren’t safe to feel.
So it developed a strategy:
“Think instead.”
And it worked.
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But you’re not there anymore.
You’re not that younger version of you.
You have more capacity now.
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A Different Way
Next time you catch yourself overthinking:
Don’t try to stop the thoughts.
Just gently interrupt the pattern.
Pause.
Close your eyes if you can.
And ask:
“What’s here, underneath this?”
Then feel.
Without trying to change it.
Without trying to solve it.
Just let it be there.
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Because on the other side of overthinking…
Isn’t a better thought.
It’s an emotion…
That’s just waiting to be felt.
