Fantasies

people say fantasies are harmless, but they can be dangerous. a lot of things have led up to these thoughts, some of which i'm not going to mention. two television programs in particular led me to write this. first, i was watching the lightning/thrashers game last night (tampa bay won 8-0!), and they did a segment during one of the intermissions on a children's book written by head coach john tortorella's wife. it's about the team and the lessons they've learned from the coach. during the segment, they showed footage of a bunch of kids that they brought into the lightning locker room to promote the book, and i started to think about what i would have felt when i was 12 if i were one of those kids. i realized that every single one of them walked into that locker room and immediately started to fantasize about something - being on the team, being friends with the players, something. i could see it in their faces. even though it was a long time ago, i clearly remember being 12, and i can imagine what i would have felt going into that situation.

the second show that led me here is last week's episode of the king of queens (oh, the magic of tivo). in it, carrie has to play the mom in a fake family that has been staged to help sell a model home. at first she hates the whole thing and can't imagine herself in the role of mommy, but as she pretends day after day, she completely loses herself in this fantasy family. and it makes her unhappy with her actual life.

and therein, my friends, lies the danger of the fantasy. if you let yourself get lost in the idea of the (non-existent) perfect life, you can become supremely disappointed with the life you're actually living. sure, a fantasy may drive you to make your own life better, but it could accomplish the exact opposite as well. indulging in a fantasy every now and then is fine, but it's a good idea not to let it go too far. take a step back, realize that a fantasy is not real and likely will never be real, and be happy with the life you've made for yourself instead.