Overthinking

Twice today I’ve stumbled across admonitions against overthinking. I’m beginning to take it personally. What is this overthinking whereof they speak? How can one distinguish between overthinking and mere thinking? There’s no posted speed limit. The “over” variant of thinking seems a subjective judgment–some people consider the slightest cognitive exertion excessive and unnecessary. Personally, I never know it’s over (thinking) until it’s over–until I’ve spent hours upon fruitless hours cogitating, analyzing, reflecting, replaying, and re-imagining, all to no effect except distilled confusion. Thinking is like a bad movie; you can’t write it off until the end, because an epiphany could arrive at the very last moment and redeem the whole wretched business in an extraordinary and unforgettable way. Life is like this too.