I feel like I'm overrated

I'm not looking for solution (there's nothing to be "solved", really), but I'm curious if anyone feels the same way.

Right now in my online chess, I sometimes feel like I've out of my league, and that my rating is higher than my true strength. I base this on observing the games I play against people of that rating or just a bit higher (in the "2000 and above" range). When playing these people, I often find myself clueless and flummoxed, and the rare times I win, it's often due to a serious blunder at some point (usually in the beginning). I don't find myself able to think and develop and execute a plan like when I play <2000 opponents.

Normally this is not a problem, since everyone will be glad to have their rating higher than their true strength (right?) However in team match, your rating determine (approximately) who you will play against, and my rating means I'm now being paired against pretty high rated opponents. I don't want to lose or throw my games, but it's less fun playin when I have to think so hard and still basically struggle most of the times.

Does anyone ever feel the same way?

Now, I know the basic answer is that if I just let nature takes its course and lose (and lose!) games, then eventually I'll be put down where I think I belong. But the problem is it's going to take time, and I just dislike the feeling of playing superior opponents and feeling like there's no hope. Ideally, I'd like my rating to just be put down a notch without me losing games, and continue from there. Does this sound odd?

Also I'm at a loss to see there's such discontinuation in opponent strength to me. It's like there's a cliff from "people I can handle" to "people I can't deal with" in the space of 100-200 rating points. I would think the strength will increase more gradually. Or is it just my subjective viewpoint, and that everyone feels the same way at the boundary/threshold of his/her current rating?

Thanks for reading!

Right.

I know it's a fairly obvious advice to say. That's why I tried to make clear the subtle point I was trying to make, although it was probably too subtle. But let me try again.

The thing is, it's not that I am asking to be stronger. I feel fine with my chess strength right now (my numerical rating notwithstanding). Objectively speaking, I feel my true strength is probably around 1900, which is perfectly fine to me. I think I've spent enough time & effort to get here, and I have no intention nor desire to devote even more of my time to make it higher. After all, 1900 is (may I say) nothing to snicker about, it's in the 98% percentile of players, and I think it's already more than decent. I do have other things and duties I have to do (outside of chess).

The question I'm asking is given that strength, is it normal that my rating is now a bit higher, and if anyone has ever felt the same way? It could well be that if you play online and never timeout, maybe your rating will always be a bit higher because there will always be a portion of the populace who timeout and give their rating to you? Entirely plausible, right? Or perhaps there's some other reason? Or is it just my imagination?

By the way, for the question (or dilemma) I'm asking about here, it's not obvious that it can be "solved" by trying to improve yourself. For all I know, you may always feel the same way whereever you are. So hypothetically, even if I'm at 2200, perhaps I'll still feel like my true strength is at 2050 and I'll still feel completely loss playing someone 2300. I don't know if that's true though, and that's why I'm curious if anyone ever feels that way (especially if you're around my rating). Either that or this "overrated" feeling is uniquely mine, and everyone else is fine, i.e. you feels like you always have a decent chance playing someone rated 100 point above yourself.

ETA: I made this post in reply to another post, which has since been deleted. Basically that post suggest that I study more, improve my skills, etc, so that I can eventually compete with people stronger than me. "You need to get mated before you get better" was one of the phrases that I can still remember.

Or a patzer who doesn't understand that you can't directly compare different ratings across different pools of players like this.

Let me see if I get you right. Are you saying you've beaten 1900-rated players, and once a 2100 player, in blitz, but only on LICHESS? And never here?

If those games only happen at LICHESS, then it's hard to say, because different websites usually have different player pool whose strength can be quite different.

But if you've beaten some 1900 players here (by resignation or mate, basically not something like they all run out of time while you're about to get mated) then I don't see any reason why your rating should be so low. You definitely should be higher.

If you have some games you've played that you can list here, that will be helpful for us to judge whether you're underrated or not. 

Possibly, you are afraid of >2000's and lose confidence. 

That's a good point. It's quite possibly true. I remember once I play this guy at 2200, and no matter how much I try to analyze positions, I still end up worse in the end. In the beginning it's hard to evaluate, and after that there were simply too many threats, some coming from no where. It feels to me like whatever I can think of, he already thinks of it 10 more moves ahead, and there's simply just no chance. That is the part I feel so frustrating, because I felt like I already tried to compare and evalute positions so much it makes my head hurt, and yet it makes no diffence whatsoever.

There may be something psychological, although I don't know of a good yardstick to tell if that's true or not. I do agree that if I play someone 2100+, I'd feel a bit conscious ("am I out of my league?"), and it may affect my play a bit. For people 2000-2100 I feel fine, in fact my record against them is probably around 40% which is about right, although like I said my wins are usually due to mistakes they made rather than a simple long-term crushing, slowly winning, leave-no-chance squeeze like what that 2200 guy did to me.

I am one of the worst players on Chess.com, but I play chess because I absolutely love the game. Now I certainly am not skilled enough to offer any technical advice to you sir, but might it be possible that as soon as you see your opponent's rating at the start of a game that reads 2200 or so, that you feel such a surge of negativity that you are unable to play your game in a relaxed state of mind? Perhaps these negative feelings are having an adverse effect on you playing your type of game and you are subconsciously thinking that your going to lose the game before you make your first move. Respectively yours, heyRick

Everybody at some point experience that. But after you start playing often vs much higher rated players and eventually you get better and score few wins here and there vs title players, specially GM's  in blitz for exapmple,  you no longer feel overrated, but rather underrated. Then you start playing with more confidence vs equal rated and you win more. Speaking from personal experience.

I am outrated my real rating, too. Usually we dont have chances to play with higher rating player. Just try to play your best. It is also fun. My real rating is 1700+ but I like to play with player 1900+ or 2000+. We can learn from them.