[Zwynd]

There's great advice in here.

When I was younger I ended up fantasizing for DAYS on end, even forgetting about sleep sometimes. I'd even program myself to be a zombie to do basic tasks if absolutely needed (ie, urinate or eat.) I had to do this, you see, for I was living in a very bad situation for much of my childhood. If I faced reality with no hope of escape back then, well, I wouldn't be alive today.

Dreaming that I was somewhere else had most certainly kept me going and hoping for a better life...eventually. Well, over time things changed and everything got better but afterward my desire to fantasize turned from a safety feature to a very big problem for me.

I had begun fantasizing [fearing] that my great Present could be taken away at a moment's notice, that I might be forced to live a similar past in my Future. I'd try to think of better things for myself in the Future to counter it but even more bad things would appear in my thoughts.

Eventually I had to say to myself "Is constantly fearing the worst or hoping for the best for hours on end actually going to help me avoid what I don't want or get what I do want right now?"

The answer for me was a resounding "NO!"

I decided I wanted to live my life, now; here in the Present. To get myself -here- I needed to allow myself small bursts of imagination (an hour a day) followed by a full desire to act as soon as it was possible.

I still struggle some days, after all I spent much of my life "somewhere else." But it does get easier the more you try. Just keep focusing on the present, have joy for the NOW and excitement for what could happen at any second. Allow a bit of time for daydreaming but don't let it decide how you could live; your imagination of what could happen might not even come close to the beautiful things you could eventually encounter.