Mystery Solved?

By Cheryl Hansen

I’m a big fan of mysteries. I like to read crime thrillers and I watch a lot of “Dateline”—I mean, who wouldn’t want to hang out with Keith Morrison? I fancy myself a spectacular sleuth, too. I can usually figure out who done it.

I wonder if that’s why I’m constantly reevaluating my own approach to healthy living. Somewhere along the line I convinced myself that it’s this great mystery—a puzzle with complicated pieces—thousands of them—that need to be carefully weighed and evaluated before it can be solved. 

Unfortunately, I’m not as adept at solving this one. To be sure, I’ve been working on the mystery of me for years and I’m not sure I’m any closer to a solution. That’s annoying, too, because I can usually pick out the bad guy within the first 20 minutes. So what gives?

What if it’s just not that complicated? What if I’m digging so deep, I’m missing the evidence right in front of me? What if I’m spending so much time considering gluten free or meal planning or the underlying psychology of changing habits that I’m not actually doing the very simple things I could be doing? 

I think it’s called overthinking—and I’ve given it a lot of thought. Maybe the bad guy is me. Maybe I need to stop playing detective and just do it.