You are not broken, you are paying attention

Here is something nobody tells you: the people who worry the most about whether they are okay are usually the ones who are paying the closest attention.

That nagging feeling that something is off? That is not a malfunction. That is your awareness working. The problem is not that you feel too much. It is that the world does not make much space for people who do.

You are not too sensitive. You are receiving signals others have learned to ignore.

The awareness-anxiety gap

There is a razor-thin line between awareness and anxiety. Awareness says: 'Something is happening and I am noticing it.' Anxiety says: 'Something is wrong and I need to fix it.' Same raw data. Completely different interpretation.

Most of the discomfort people feel is not because they are broken. It is because they are awake in a world that rewards numbness. Paying attention to your inner life is uncomfortable, not because something is wrong with you, but because most of us are not practised at it.

The reframe

What if the overthinking, the sensitivity, the persistent feeling that something needs your attention: what if that is not a problem to solve? What if it is a signal to follow?

Not every signal leads somewhere dramatic. Sometimes it leads to a quiet realisation. Sometimes it leads to a conversation you have been putting off. Sometimes it just leads to naming the thing you feel, and feeling the relief of being honest with yourself.

You are not broken. You are paying attention. And that is the beginning of everything.

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