If You Keep Overthinking, It’s Because You Fear Losing Control: Gita Explains
Riya Kumari | Jul 16, 2025, 23:59 IST
Okay, confession time: I overthink everything. Like, everything-everything. From the tone of a “K” text to whether I sounded too enthusiastic about paneer tikka at dinner. And no, it’s not quirky. It’s exhausting. And the Gita does it with more grace than my therapist and less passive-aggression than my ex. So, let’s talk overthinking, control issues, and how Krishna beat Freud to the punch by a few thousand years
Some nights, the silence is unbearable. Not because it’s quiet, but because your thoughts won’t stop screaming. You pace. You sit in the dark. You imagine worst-case scenarios so vividly, your chest physically hurts. You rehearse every mistake you’ve made, every version of events where you are the villain, the fool, the one who ruined everything. You apologize to people in your head who’ve long stopped thinking about you. You cry quietly so no one hears. And somewhere in all of it, you ask the question you’re terrified to answer: What if I deserve this? You’re not overthinking anymore. You’re punishing yourself. Because deep down, you don’t just fear losing control. You fear that if you let go, even for a second, you’ll see what you really are: not good enough. Not lovable. Not redeemable. That’s where the Bhagavad Gita speaks. Not in soft words, but in precise ones. It doesn’t coddle you. It exposes you. It meets you in the fire and says, “Now that you’re here, let’s burn what’s false.”
1. You Chase Control as Redemption
Shloka (2.47):
"You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions."
Control is not healing. It’s punishment disguised as order. You don’t need to fix everything. You need to stop believing your pain is a debt to repay.
You don’t overthink because you’re careful. You do it because you want to earn worth. If I do this right, maybe they’ll stay. If I apologize again, maybe I’ll be forgiven. If I suffer enough, maybe I’ll deserve peace. But Krishna’s voice doesn’t feed that lie. He says: Stop bargaining. You’re not God. You don’t get to decide what comes back to you.
You want to be in control because you’re terrified of what will happen if you aren’t. But what you really fear, is that if you don’t fix it, no one will love you broken.
Shloka (4.7):
"Whenever there is a decline in righteousness… I manifest Myself."
God doesn’t abandon you. Your suffering is not a disqualification. It's the very reason He comes closer.
There are moments so dark, you wonder if even God has left. When you scream into pillows, into silence, into the sky and hear nothing back. You wonder: What kind of God watches this and stays silent?
But Krishna doesn’t say He’ll show up when things are light. He says He shows up when things fall apart. When dharma collapses. When the soul is buried under shame. That’s when grace walks in, not with noise, but with knowing.
3. When You Feel Like You’re the Problem, You Try to Outperform Your Shame
Shloka (3.39):
"Knowledge is covered by desire, this insatiable fire that is the constant enemy of the wise."
You can’t overachieve your way out of shame. The only way out is to see it and stop feeding it.
No one sees the desperation behind your ambition. The way you overthink every word, every move, because you think, If I’m perfect, maybe I won’t be hated. Maybe I won’t be left again.
But Krishna names that fire. It’s desire, but not for objects. For redemption. For safety. For being enough. And that desire, if it goes unchecked, will burn through your peace, your mind, and your self-respect.
4. You Don’t Want Peace. You Want to Be Fixed
Shloka (6.5):
"Lift yourself by yourself. Do not degrade yourself. For you are your own friend and your own enemy."
The war isn’t out there. It’s inside you. And it’s not between right and wrong, it’s between truth and shame.
There’s a difference between wanting healing and wanting to stop hating yourself. And most days, you’re not chasing growth. You’re just trying to stop the voices that say, You’re too much. You ruined it. You’ll never be chosen.
But Krishna says something wild here. He says you are your own friend. Even now. Even like this. And that voice inside that punishes, that blames, that spirals, that’s not wisdom. That’s the enemy.
5. You Are Not Broken. You’re Just Caught in the Fire Before the Rebirth
Shloka (18.66):
"Abandon all varieties of dharma and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear."
Surrender isn’t defeat. It’s the moment your suffering becomes unnecessary.
This is the Gita’s final blow. The line Krishna saves for the end. When you’ve tried everything. Cried everything. Broken in ways no one can see. He says: Let it all go.
Not your responsibilities. But the burden you’ve placed on your soul, the need to prove, to be punished, to be enough. Stop trying to fix it. Stop trying to earn healing. Just surrender.
Let the Mind Work, But Don’t Let It Rule
Sometimes, what breaks you isn’t what happened. It’s what you told yourself because it happened. That you’re not worthy. That you're a mistake. That you're beyond repair. But the Gita doesn’t say you need to be perfect. It doesn’t even say you need to be healed. It says you just need to stop holding on to your punishment like it’s sacred.
You are not your spiral. You are not your worst moment replayed in your head a thousand times. And you are not abandoned. You’re just lost in a mind that was never meant to lead you. Let the soul speak. Let go. Not because you’re weak. But because you finally understand, you don’t need to suffer to be saved.
1. You Chase Control as Redemption
Control
( Image credit : Unsplash )
Shloka (2.47):
"You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions."
Control is not healing. It’s punishment disguised as order. You don’t need to fix everything. You need to stop believing your pain is a debt to repay.
You don’t overthink because you’re careful. You do it because you want to earn worth. If I do this right, maybe they’ll stay. If I apologize again, maybe I’ll be forgiven. If I suffer enough, maybe I’ll deserve peace. But Krishna’s voice doesn’t feed that lie. He says: Stop bargaining. You’re not God. You don’t get to decide what comes back to you.
You want to be in control because you’re terrified of what will happen if you aren’t. But what you really fear, is that if you don’t fix it, no one will love you broken.
2. Even If God Feels Silent, He’s Not Absent
Boundary
( Image credit : Unsplash )
Shloka (4.7):
"Whenever there is a decline in righteousness… I manifest Myself."
God doesn’t abandon you. Your suffering is not a disqualification. It's the very reason He comes closer.
There are moments so dark, you wonder if even God has left. When you scream into pillows, into silence, into the sky and hear nothing back. You wonder: What kind of God watches this and stays silent?
But Krishna doesn’t say He’ll show up when things are light. He says He shows up when things fall apart. When dharma collapses. When the soul is buried under shame. That’s when grace walks in, not with noise, but with knowing.
3. When You Feel Like You’re the Problem, You Try to Outperform Your Shame
Attached
( Image credit : Unsplash )
Shloka (3.39):
"Knowledge is covered by desire, this insatiable fire that is the constant enemy of the wise."
You can’t overachieve your way out of shame. The only way out is to see it and stop feeding it.
No one sees the desperation behind your ambition. The way you overthink every word, every move, because you think, If I’m perfect, maybe I won’t be hated. Maybe I won’t be left again.
But Krishna names that fire. It’s desire, but not for objects. For redemption. For safety. For being enough. And that desire, if it goes unchecked, will burn through your peace, your mind, and your self-respect.
4. You Don’t Want Peace. You Want to Be Fixed
Peace
( Image credit : Unsplash )
Shloka (6.5):
"Lift yourself by yourself. Do not degrade yourself. For you are your own friend and your own enemy."
The war isn’t out there. It’s inside you. And it’s not between right and wrong, it’s between truth and shame.
There’s a difference between wanting healing and wanting to stop hating yourself. And most days, you’re not chasing growth. You’re just trying to stop the voices that say, You’re too much. You ruined it. You’ll never be chosen.
But Krishna says something wild here. He says you are your own friend. Even now. Even like this. And that voice inside that punishes, that blames, that spirals, that’s not wisdom. That’s the enemy.
5. You Are Not Broken. You’re Just Caught in the Fire Before the Rebirth
Forgive
( Image credit : Unsplash )
Shloka (18.66):
"Abandon all varieties of dharma and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear."
Surrender isn’t defeat. It’s the moment your suffering becomes unnecessary.
This is the Gita’s final blow. The line Krishna saves for the end. When you’ve tried everything. Cried everything. Broken in ways no one can see. He says: Let it all go.
Not your responsibilities. But the burden you’ve placed on your soul, the need to prove, to be punished, to be enough. Stop trying to fix it. Stop trying to earn healing. Just surrender.
Let the Mind Work, But Don’t Let It Rule
You are not your spiral. You are not your worst moment replayed in your head a thousand times. And you are not abandoned. You’re just lost in a mind that was never meant to lead you. Let the soul speak. Let go. Not because you’re weak. But because you finally understand, you don’t need to suffer to be saved.