Reading over my posts from the last few days, there was quite a bit of rambling...lots of different thoughts thrown together. I had a theme in mind when I started, and just kind of got lost during the execution.
This happens to me a lot...trying to follow my thoughts when I'm just thinking at random is like trying to untangle a bowl of spaghetti sometimes. I'm actually okay with that. When I'm thinking of lots of things, I'm not focused on any one thing.
Where I get into trouble is when I keep coming back to the same thing, over and over. That's when things become dicey for me. I start picking at it, tearing it apart from all angles...over-analyzing. That kind of thing works great for puzzles and math problems. Eventually, I'll find the solution. But real life doesn't always have a solution, and language is often inadequate in describing real life. Real life can't always be described and analyzed in ways that make sense. So I end up analyzing the language.
One example. Someone tells you they 'love you'. What exactly does that mean? We have a notion of what 'love' means. But ultimately, it becomes a question of context and intent. It means something different when my son tells me he loves me, as opposed to my father, or someone I've helped with a problem. And even coming from the same person, it can mean different things at different times. Spending time over-analyzing something like that can drive you crazy. And even if you can get a handle on the words themselves, there's always the context and intent to tear apart.
I try to avoid these philosophical discussions with myself. Much easier to accept situations for what they are, and not spend a lot of time "thinking" about them. I TRY not to over-analyze...I really do. Not always successfully, though. Sometimes my spaghetti gets tied in a knot.
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