My waking mind has no pause or off switch. It bounces from item to item like the ball in a pinball machine – seemingly erratic and unpredictable but likely quite measurable and predictable by a team of scientists (as one or two scientists would clearly not be enough). Some days having this type of mind is a benefit, most days it is a curse.
One of my ex-husband’s told me I think too much. At the time I thought he merely thought too little, but over time I have come to understand his point. I do think too much about too many silly things that probably do not matter in the big scheme of things, but I cannot help it – my waking mind never stops.
My mind is most hyperactive in the mornings when I wake up, but before I get out of bed. A hundred things run through my mind in those five or so minutes. It reminds me of when you start a computer and it does all the system checks that need to be done. Such is my mind. When I wake up my mind runs through things I need to do that day, things that were said or done the day before, things someone said to me last week or perhaps ten years ago, ideas for projects, worries about other project deadlines, what I should cook for dinner, ideas on where should my family go on vacation, whether an outfit makes my butt look big, what color I should paint the bathroom, memories of neighbors from long ago, did Cory get those new shoes we discussed, what are we doing for Christmas this year, remember to buy more coffee at the store…etc., etc., etc.
Welcome to my mind. Mr. Carol can sit quietly and when asked what he is thinking about he can say “nothing” and actually mean it. When I say nothing, I mean everything. My failing is I just don’t stop on any one thing long enough to be able to say that I was actually “thinking” about it – it was more like driving by thoughts at 60 miles an hour.
I want to be able to say “nothing” or at least be able to say I was thinking about one thing. I don’t think it is going to happen in this lifetime. I have heard it said that men’s and women’s minds are different and I often wonder if this mind is a function of my gender. I also wonder if it is perhaps a byproduct of being a mom and is doubly magnified by having many years in as a single mom. Surely someone out there has done a study on this. It must be some sort of syndrome – it must have a name and an acronym. Being one of the sufferers I feel a responsibility to put a name to my ailment. I am going to call it Overactive Mind Syndrome or OMS.
I surmise now that I have diagnosed myself and named my disease I should start a support group for OMS sufferers…hmmm, I wonder where we should meet, should we have meetings in the mornings or at night, I should bring food, I really need to remember to make that new enchilada recipe again – that was good, I have to go to the grocery store – when do I have time to do that, did I ever get a new battery for my watch, I need new hoop earrings, I think I’ll wear that sweater today that my earrings always get stuck on, do I have any meetings today that require me to dress up, I should start a support group for OMS sufferers…and so it goes…on and on and on.
OMG – I have OMS! Send that team of scientists…
Day one hundred and nine of the new forty – obla di obla da
CC
THE NEW FORTY 
OMG, I KNEW there was a name for what I suffer from, too! Thank you for your valuable public service in this matter. We really should have a fund-raiser; I think I have a database of businesse we could hit up for donations, and we could cook bratwurst and sell before home games and outside the grocery store. Do you have any idea who’s doing research on this malady? Do we need to set up a foundation? OK, OK, I’ve run out of room…
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OMG we DO NEED a foundation for this malady!! And here I thought all along my mom and I were the only ones’ afflicted with such a disorder! Since we are the experts in the experience of the 60 mph thoughts WE should do the research! Just add more things to our days that we will end up thinking about in the fleeting seconds of having to get everythin done, why not add more- maybe it will make our minds move even faster! All I know is that as I am approaching 50 I had hoped for some relief but you are living proof it is not going to happen. It is my wish to have the same nothing thoughts and really mean it. What shall we do??
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Sign me up for the OMS Support Group! Glad to know there are others with these issues. I can so relate to the blessings and curses of this particular malady. As Kat stated, I too hoped it would get better with age, but now there are just that many more experiences and memories tucked up in that brain, which means even more rapid firing of thoughts! I’ve often thought of my brain as a popcorn popper, with the popcorn (thoughts/ideas) shooting all over. I also think my brain has been sprayed with PAM, so the thoughts just don’t stick…sliding away as another thought is unsuccessful at its attempts to stick.
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I heard about some guys who came up with a treatment plan for the symptoms of our “malady” as you call it. There names are Captain Morgan, Tom Collins, and some foreign guy Anheuser Busch.
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Ladies~
What a relief to learn that I am not alone. Where should we meet for our first meeting…what should I wear…should we invite others…should we advertise…can anyone make a PSA…do you think we can get a star to donate their time for the PSA…who should we get…do you like Sally Field?
And it goes on and on and on. 🙂
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i had an overactive mind before when i was like 14 but now im 18 and i wish i would have that mind again i envy u guys and im a male heteroseksual so its not about gender …. i would like to now how to get my mind overactive again because i barely can think sometimes i got lazy :S:S:S:S:S
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Since about 4-5 years old I have had my mind racing 1,000 miles an hour. I have seen people and heard people not there. I am in my 50’s now. I sleep terrible all my life, I cannot shut down. Night time is my worst time of the day. You just lay there while your wife is snorning. I have Dr. degrees and have been cum laude, and A’s through school. I read a great deal and can think on subjects for a long time. It’s like, you are out for dinner with friends and conversation goes around the table. I come up with my response like two days later becuase I thought about it so long. If you have same trouble I found how to live with it, I say live with it, not get rid of it. Please take my advise serious to try. 1. I bought a sound machine at Radio Shack, about $20.00 dollars. I listen to the waves and focus on that. I wear eye pads or mask, so that I do not see people anymore. I wear ear plugs so I do not hear voices well and I don’t hear wife snorning sleeping well. Take a xanax 1 mg. tablet, and a shot of vodka and you should have better nights. Hope this will help someone.
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Is this just for women? I’m a male with the same issues. Get it from my mom. 3:20 in the morning, I’m dead tired but laying down only starts a million thoughtsquare including wondering what I will dream if I ever fall asleep. Ruining my life!
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