Carl Jung warned about over-intellectualizing life. It’s tempting to analyze everything, to turn each decision or emotion into a problem that needs solving. For someone like me, with a tendency to analyze deeply and strive for clarity, it feels natural to lean on the intellect. But we’re not robots. Life isn’t a formula to crack. It’s not always meant to make perfect sense.
Living too much in the mind creates unnecessary suffering. You start viewing your days like a checklist, like a game of optimization. But life is messy. It’s unpredictable for the most part. And when you intellectualize every moment, you lose the ability to feel it fully. Joy, sadness, beauty, love. These aren’t things you can study your way into. They need to be experienced. Felt. Lived.
Sometimes the best moments in life happen when you stop thinking so much. When you let yourself flow with whatever is happening. I find that when I overthink, I miss what’s right in front of me. A conversation. A walk in nature. A smile. The very things that make life worth living.
Jung was right. We are not just thinking machines. We are human. To live well means embracing the irrational, the emotional, and the imperfect parts of life. It means putting down the need to analyze everything and just being.