Do you think critically enough?

What is critical thinking, is it a thing? I have been pondering for the past few days as to how to answer this question. Is it a mind frame? Is it a skill? How does one know they are thinking critically? I have been making myself crazy with this for days now, when I finally realized critical thinking is just that. It is thinking so intently upon something, examining it, analyzing it, and going over it from different angles. Now by it I of course mean whatever topic you’re thinking about at the time. For example to me critical thinking usually happens most when I am either fighting with someone or about to make a big change. A few weeks ago my sister and I had a fight, if you know me you know that I can’t stand having anyone upset with me. So she and I not being ok really bothered me, but I felt like I had been right. So I spent a lot of time thinking, about what happened, about how she felt, and about the issue at hand, I tried to view things from every angle possible. While this may not be the best explanation it is fitting I believe. To me if one is to think critically they must look at it from many different sides.
I use critical thinking a lot when I read, I go over the text many times before I continue on. I like to get the most out of my readings, so I like to take my time and see things for all they can be, not just what they seem to be. Sometimes if I find a book that I really like, I will read it many times. Each time I get a little more out of it, each time I try and view it in a different way. This can be said with my everyday life as well though. I think a lot, it’s actually a problem I have, I overanalyze and focus too much at times. I think to critically if you will. I find myself doing this most in my personal life, I often analyze things that have happened and try and see them from different peoples perspectives, this gives me a better understanding of the event. I also do this with the media, this kind of goes back to me reading biographies a little bit. It’s kind of like the media is basically a glimpse at people’s lives. We sit back and judge them, yet we take everything at face value. We rarely ask questions and hardly ever think of things from their point of view. I do not like this, I wish those people who viewed and created the media would do a bit more critical thinking, it sure wouldn’t hurt in my opinion.
For this class I hope to gain a better sense of understanding of what it is to think in a critical manner. I hope to be able to better understand and evaluate things from a different point of view. I hope I am able to view the world a lot differently after this class, I want to better understand. That is huge for me, understanding, means everything. The more you can understand a person, a life style, the more you can understand life. Understanding is key to accepting, which I think everyone could use a little more of.