It started out innocently enough.  I began to think at parties now and then -- to loosen up.

 Inevitably, though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than  just a social thinker.

 I began to think alone -- "to relax," I told myself -- but I knew it  wasn't true.

 Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was  thinking all the time.

 That was when things began to sour at home.  One evening I turned off the TV and asked my partner about the  meaning  of life.  She spent that night at her mother's.  I began to think on the job.  I knew that thinking and employment don't mix, but I couldn't stop myself.  I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau and Kafka.

 I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is it  exactly we are doing here?"

 One day the boss called me in.  He said, "Listen, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your
 thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the  job, you'll have to find another job."

 This gave me a lot to think about.  I came home early after my conversation with the boss.

 "Honey," I confessed, "I've been thinking..."

 "I know you've been thinking again," she said, "and I want a divorce!"

 "But Honey, surely it's not that serious."

 "It is serious," she said, lower lip aquiver. "You think as much as  college professors, and college professors don't make any money, so if  you keep on thinking, we won't have any money!"

 "That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently.   She exploded in tears of rage and frustration, but I was in no mood to
 deal with the emotional drama.  "I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door.

 I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche.  I roared into the parking lot and ran up to the  big glass doors... They didn't open. The library was closed.  To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that  night.

 Leaning on the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra, a poster  caught my eye.

 "Friend, is  'Heavy Thinking' ruining your life?" it asked.  You probably recognise that line.  It comes from the standard 'Thinker's Anonymous' poster.

 Which is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker.  I never miss a TA meeting.  At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was  "Porky's."

 Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last  meeting.

 I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home.

 Life just seemed... easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking.

 I think the road to recovery is nearly complete for me.

 I think I might go out for a drink later!