Do you feel like you are wrestling with a constantly active mind? Do you feel like you have been given to your mind, as opposed to your mind being given to you?
Your mind never rests, it is never content. It is always active - that's what it does. You find a bit of happiness and calm, and then your mind is gone, searching for the next thing. Your mind can never be content because its always on the hunt, but that's its job.
We have a problem with over-thinking because through habit we have let the mind become the boss. We've let it into the driving seat and its gotten away, going for it, predicting, guessing, checking, comparing, the whole works. Its not relaxing because the mind is constantly busy doubting and worrying. Its inefficient too. Because the mind is never present, we rarely can meet the true need of this moment. We rarely show up for life.
In all ways, for the fullest life possible we have to learn to again be the boss of the mind.
Being the boss of the mind doesn't mean closing it down or shutting it up. It means realising what the mind is, and having a different perspective, a bigger perspective.
We are awareness. We are what we notice. For the longest time all we have noticed is the same old loops of thought that are floating around inside our skulls. We're so involved in the detail we don't see anything else. We notice the content but rarely the context. We notice the fish swimming, but rarely the water. We notice the words, but rarely who is reading. The universe is a big place, a wondrous place, but we just don't notice much of it.
Being clear, calm and content does not require force. It involves relaxing, taking a step back. When you stop and become presence, even just for a moment, everything changes. By becoming aware of the bigger picture the mind becomes smaller, quieter in comparison. You become content. Not that you weren't contentment already, its just that you were distracted, listening to your mind trying to be helpful by telling you everything that was wrong.
You also become ready. Ready for anything. All possibilities. You can meet the need of this moment because you're not absorbed in the mind talk about the last moment or the next one. You can direct your considerable attention to anything you wish, not just what your mind believes is important.
If you become the boss of your mind, you are free. Free to put your attention on anything you wish. Free to follow what is most important to you, your highest desire. Free to finally show up for life, to participate fully in it. Yet most importantly, you are free to realise who you really are.