I can be overly analytical on things. I think it's safe to say I might be my own biggest critic and I know I'm guilty of over analyzing things I do, say and how I react.

Everyday I think of something that ...
I said that I shouldn't have or should have,
I did something I shouldn't have or should have,
I reacted to something I shouldn't have or should have reacted better, (actually right now I just realized I should have worded a text message differently to a girl, see what I mean?)
I shouldn't have responded back with such an aggressive tone,

etc ...

It's like I have to fit this perfect model or image I've procured for myself and when I feel I've missed the mark I get frustrated. It seems I can't make myself happy or content with who I am?

I'm thinking at age 30, I shouldn't be having any such thoughts, right? Is that normal??

Originally Posted by: Zero2Cool 

The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds
from good will and an acute sense of propriety
and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies;
who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty,
the obscure man of his obscurity,
or any man of his inferiority or deformity;
who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another;
who does not flatter wealth,
cringe before power,
or boast of his own possessions or achievements;
who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy;
whose deed follows his word;
who thinks of the rights and feelings of others rather than his own;
and who appears well in any company;
a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe.

John Walter Wayland 1899 wrote:

Zero - there's no such thing as normal.

That said, you are your own worst enemy. You're overcritical of yourself. You hold yourself back. You can do a lot more than you think you can do.

The girl example is a perfect example. Do we ever get it right with girls? Let's be realistic. There's a reason there's that joke that says "if a man says something and a woman doesn't hear him, is he still wrong?"

We all make mistakes and we all fail. I personally have failed at WAY more things than you even tried. But we go on.

Pick up Dr. Wayne Dyer's book "Your Erroneous Zones." Read it. It's a start. You need to stop worrying, stop feeling guilty, and stop beating yourself up for every little thing you do wrong and start enjoying life.

And one last thing - intelligence can be a curse. I can tell you horror stories of smart people I know who have paralyzed themselves by thinking too much.

Originally Posted by: zombieslayer 

I'm sure this will be fodder for someone. I started listening to "Attacking Anxiety & Depression" session and it was helping a bit. They say people with anxiety worry themselves almost literally to death.

I know I need to stop beating myself up over things, especially such petty things ... I just don't know how to.

My dad said the same thing about intelligence being a curse. He used to tell me I was 'too damn smart for your own good boy'. I always figured he was joking around and didn't really understand what he meant.

I'm not sure if this relates, but it just came to mind. When I was younger I always excelled at sports, athletically speaking. I remember dad asking me 'son, do you know why you can throw the ball farther than the other kids and why you can run faster?'. I didn't know, an honestly didn't give a damn. He told me it was because I try harder than everyone else, that I feel I have something to prove.

Looking back, he's right. I wasn't the biggest kid on the block and I knew if I wanted to play with the 'big kids' that I had to take an extra hit, run extra fast and throw extra harder than everyone else.

Where I think that may relate is when it comes to intelligence, I kind of already know I'm pretty smart and have nothing to prove over others.

And I think that's what dad meant by being too smart for my own good.

Originally Posted by: Zero2Cool