How to live in a fictional world

Why can't my life be like the books I read?

Why are fictional boys better?

I wish I could live in that fictional world....

Sound familiar? Everyone with an imagination has pondered this at least a gazillion times. I'm guilty of this. I use to suffer from GIAGS--Grass Is Always Greener Syndrome. I remember in my lowest times or engrossed in a story, I have asked this more times than there are grains of sand on a beach. Life in the stories seem so much more better. There is a clear path for the protagonist.

In my desperation to wanting to be part of these worlds, I had an epiphany. I'm my own solution. Life is book. But life doesn't stop on the last page it continues to another another story, a series. My wanting to be part of the fictional world was a chapter in the book of my life. I began to see the world from a different angle. I began to see the beauty and excitement in the small things that I would never had seen before. Imagine that your life is like the True Men show, from afar someone is watching your daily turmoils and is sitting on the edge of their seat as you tackle adversaries and accomplishments.

The components of a story can be applied to our normal life.
Character: You. 
Setting: You could be anywhere. It could be your school, work, bus stop, a holiday, a stadium, a friends house, in the shower. It can be anywhere or a series of places.
Plot: This is a series of events and or other characters that will relate to the central conflict. It could be something major like a career change or something as frivolous as learning to juggle.
Conflict: This is your struggle. The antagonist that keeps stepping in your path before you can reach your objective. The antagonist could be a person, events, nature, society or even yourself.
Theme: This is your central belief, idea or goal.

Once I applied these components to a conscious level, I started to see my life wasn't so bad. It made me grateful for what I have. Though I'm not going to pretend, I do enjoy escaping my reality and living vicariously through someone else in a good book, and it is very unlikely an owl will will drop me a letter to Hogwarts. Life really is a book. I have had some people ask me; 'why does nothing seem to bother?' or 'why do you always see the silver lining?' I think of all the things that happen to in my life as chapters to a great book that is still being written. That's my secret. It is a simple shift of perception.

Our life is a great story. The one difference between us and the stories is; our story doesn't end on the final page. Our life is a unique series that we write. We are all authors to our own story. So make it a good one.

"Life is a book. There are good chapters, and there are bad chapters. But when you get to a bad chapter, you don't stop reading the book! If you do... then you will never find out what happens next!" - Brian Falkner