Posts Tagged: the problems with introspection

“Introspection Addiction”

On June 30, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

My wife recently accused me of being too introspective. My immediate response was, “You may be right. Let me think about that more deeply.” Of course, I was joking. I was also serious.

Looking into our own mental, spiritual, and emotional internal goings-on can be a good thing. I suspect that most of us are very outwardly focused. Families, jobs, hobbies, Facebook, tv—the list goes on, but I will not. Perhaps a famine of introspection is problem for many people.

However, my wife is right. I am prone to the opposite problem. I fear that I am addicted to introspection. I am tempted to start a new twelve-step group called “I.A.—Introspectors Anonymous”!

You may say, “Well, what’s wrong with self-examination?” The answer is nothing at all. But anything that is excessive becomes a problem. Actually, excess gives birth to manyproblems.

For one thing, my introspection addiction sometimes keeps me from enjoying life. There is always something to find fault with (or at least to be unsure about) when I look within too much. While there is much in me that does need to be changed, excessive self-scrutiny simply sabotages my joy. Is misery really a good way to change for the better? I doubt it.

Then too, if I’m forever looking inward, I will almost certainly miss some upward and outward realities. Upward, there is God to be loved. Outward, there are people to be loved and a planet to be cared for. In fact, caring for the planet is one aspect of loving people. If we don’t care for our world, people suffer.

We all need a certain amount of introspection. Some folks probably need more than others. But if I’m forever examining myself, my thoughts, my feelings, I become a very small person. As someone has said, “A person all wrapped up in himself makes a very small package.”

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