Just commenting to state some obvious things that you already know, but I hope it doesn’t hurt to hear them from someone else.
You have a massive positive impact on invertebrates
Rumination generally doesn’t have much positive benefit
The universe with a happier Aaron who doesn’t spend a lot of time ruminating is a better universe, both for Aaron and for the invertebrates, than the universe with a guilty Aaron who spends a lot of time ruminating.
Bypassing guilt and rumination is far easier said than done, but the following framing helps me. You’re on a great path, doing great and wonderful things for the world. Excessive focus on these less important (relative to the rest of your impact) decisions doesn’t seem to contribute to that path. As you alluded to, it actively detracts from it. For me, conceptualising things like that really does help me bypass a lot of rumination; just stay the course, knowing that your path is a good one. If you were a terrible person, outputting 0 good in the world, then maybe it’s worth ruminating more on these small things; but you are the polar opposite, and the invertebrates need you in good mental shape!
I doubt any of this helps, but at least I hope it doesn’t make things worse!
Just commenting to state some obvious things that you already know, but I hope it doesn’t hurt to hear them from someone else.
You have a massive positive impact on invertebrates
Rumination generally doesn’t have much positive benefit
The universe with a happier Aaron who doesn’t spend a lot of time ruminating is a better universe, both for Aaron and for the invertebrates, than the universe with a guilty Aaron who spends a lot of time ruminating.
Bypassing guilt and rumination is far easier said than done, but the following framing helps me. You’re on a great path, doing great and wonderful things for the world. Excessive focus on these less important (relative to the rest of your impact) decisions doesn’t seem to contribute to that path. As you alluded to, it actively detracts from it. For me, conceptualising things like that really does help me bypass a lot of rumination; just stay the course, knowing that your path is a good one. If you were a terrible person, outputting 0 good in the world, then maybe it’s worth ruminating more on these small things; but you are the polar opposite, and the invertebrates need you in good mental shape!
I doubt any of this helps, but at least I hope it doesn’t make things worse!
Keep up the great work.