That Text Was Totally About Me… Right?

Let’s talk about the worst thing to ever happen to an overthinker: a short text message.

Not a mean one. Not a confusing one. Just… short. Like, criminally short.

You know the one:

“Sure.”

Excuse me? Sure what? Sure, you love me? Sure, you’re mad at me? Sure, you’ve already decided to cut me out of your life and this is just the formality before you vanish into the mist?

Because let me tell you—when you live with anxiety, “Sure” is less a response and more a verbal jump scare. It’s the ghost that haunts your thoughts at 2:17 AM while you stare at the ceiling like a Victorian orphan.

Welcome to Overthinking: Population, Me

I don’t just receive messages. I conduct full forensic investigations into them. I don’t see words—I see tone, subtext, hidden meanings, and unspoken emotional undercurrents.

• “Hey” = casual.

• “Hey!” = excited.

• “Hey.” = I’ve ruined everything and they hate me forever.

Even emojis aren’t safe. One well-placed “😐” and I’m Googling friendship funerals.

The Spiral Starts Fast and Ends Nowhere

Once the spiral starts, there’s no stopping it. It’s a full mental performance review conducted by my own brain:

• “You definitely said something weird yesterday.”

• “Remember that joke you made in 2009? This is the consequence.”

• “They’re obviously mad. They just haven’t told you yet because they’re planning the group text where they all collectively leave you.”

It’s wild how fast one harmless message can become a character-defining crisis.

But… What If It’s Not About Me?

Here’s a revolutionary concept I’m working on (poorly):

Not everything is about me.

Yeah. I don’t love it either.

Sometimes people are short because they’re tired.

Or busy.

Or just not in the mood to add seven exclamation points and a GIF of a raccoon hugging a kitten.

And that’s okay. It’s not a rejection. It’s not the end. It’s just a text.

Which means I don’t have to waste two hours interpreting it like it’s the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Point, Because I Know You’re Also Overanalyzing This Blog

If you’re someone who rewrites texts ten times, panics over tone, or rereads your last message to see if you were “too much”… congratulations, you’re not alone. Your brain is just doing its weird, anxious dance again.

But maybe next time it happens, you can catch it mid-spiral and say:

“Hey brain? Chill. It was just a text.”

And if your brain doesn’t listen?

Well, that’s what therapy’s for.