Why should one stop thinking?

I thought about too many things, far too many times, for too many days, yet nothing ever changed until I stopped thinking and started to act. 

Think, think, think... think before you speak, think before you do, think even before you think - The more and more I thought, the more miserable my life became. I spent years together thinking. It all started in my childhood when I used to think about doing something, spending too much time thinking, but I was never able to do that something. Then, I got tired of thinking about that one thing and started thinking about something new. I thought about this new thing for a hell of a lot of time and got tired of thinking about it too when I found something else to think about.

All I did was think and never act on anything. Eventually I had accumulated too many things to think about. I'd think about one thing, then I'd feel bad that I wasn't able to do it, then, I'd switch to thinking about another thing, then something else, then a different thing and so on and on and on and on... I get stuck in a loop thinking about various things simultaneously. Sometimes I think so much that I don't have the energy to think about anything anymore. That's when I become totally hopeless and I give up on thinking. 

Although short lived, I like this phase of my life when I don't think about anything. It feels like I'm left in an empty dark room with no memories. In that moment, I am a nobody with nowhere to go and nothing to live for. But, my mind doesn't like it when I don't or can't think. When I feel relaxed after going through the endless loops of thinking, a thought starts to arise. Before I can realize it, I fall prey to the endless loop of thoughts. 

I wonder if it's really required to think. Thinking hasn't done any good in my life. If you think about it, thought is an accumulation of memories; that's what we call knowledge. Not just the memories that we have created in own life, but knowledge that has been carried and passed since the beginning of human existence. It's good to have knowledge and memories. With knowledge, we know that fire burns, water drowns, animals attack, and many other things that have been tried and tested which helped them to survive and help for our survival. Knowledge is for mere survival, not for living.

If I look back on life, my best memories were made when I didn't dwell on thinking, but acted purely out of instincts. It's amazing how I never went wrong when I followed my instincts. When someone says 'follow your heart', they are essentially saying follow your instincts. When someone says 'follow your mind', they are suggesting follow your mind. 

Instincts arise from human intelligence. Intelligence is pure, not corrupted by knowledge. Knowledge is a survival tool and always keeps you away from taking any form of risk which could harm you. Intelligence, on the other hand, is a living tool, guiding you to the right thing. There is risk in using intelligence and comfort in using knowledge. With intelligence, you truly live. With knowledge, you merely survive. 

It's upon us to decide whether to live, or just survive.