Do you ever start reading a book and you become so consumed by the story? You have dreams where you place yourself in the situations, which the characters are stuck in, as you read you imagine yourself as the characters. You sympathize with even the most evil character. How is it so easy for us to become invested in these made up situations, and sympathize with these fictional characters, yet we can’t even get along with our parents and siblings.

I will always marvel over the idea of books. I love them because they become an escape for me. I can have a fairytale romance with a guy who does everything right (wouldn’t that be nice). I can solve a mystery and save people, all while sitting on a beach doing nothing, but listening to the waves with a book in my hand. The beauty of books is that you get to imagine how the people look, pick your favorite and become emotionally invested in their lives (without people watching and being nosey). Books have always saved me from living a tragically boring, normal life, and as fun as that is, after reading a book it can be hard to come back to reality.

Everyone knows that feeling when you’re reading a good book, and you’re getting towards the end, yet you don’t want it to end. You want the story to keep going, you want to stay in the author’s setting and avoid reality. Maybe the story didn’t end the way you had hoped. Burying yourself in books is the most beautiful escape, and I will be reading books till the day I die, but we have to remember to live our own lives.

Too often we create these standards for real life that we read in books, or watch in movies. It isn’t fair to hold people to these standards or to expect the world to workout the same way a story engineered by an author does. Life is full of surprises, and each person has their own surprises presented to them through their unique life.

People are always comparing their lives to the lives of others (whether the person of comparison is fictional or real). We have to learn to be content with our own lives. Smile when things are going right and work harder when things are going wrong. You can’t stop time, and time only brings change.

Nothing lasts forever, whether it be a book, a movie or an event in your life. All we can do as people is live our lives to the fullest (as cliché as that sounds). Read the amazing books, which allow you to be whoever you wish. Watch the movie that is packed with more adventure than most of us will see in a lifetime. Sympathize with those in need, or struggling through hard times. Love with no limits ( and no movie or comparison standards). Do not settle for “good enough” search until you have the joy you get from reading your favorite book on the beach.

Imagination can lead to a beautiful reality, you just have to be ready to leave your escape and give reality a chance.