I Can't Sleep!

Dear Cassie,

I have a crush on this really cute, nice guy. I’ve been talking to him for awhile online and also through texting. The problem is that when I go to bed, I can't sleep because he is always on my mind. What do I do?  

Lisa, MA

Dear Lisa,

Crushes are fun, aren’t they?!?  But I’ve got to warn you that people on the internet aren’t always who they say they are!  Even if they are indeed the guy in the picture, and there’s no guarantee that he is, they still might not be who you think they are.  When we email or text, we have plenty of time to think of just the right words, or even create a personality that we wish we had, even if we don’t.  Then there’s also the fact that our own imaginations are so powerful, that we invent what we don’t know about a person, until we’ve created someone so perfect for us in our minds, that the poor real person behind all that fantasy could never live up to all that!  If you want to have a crush, make it someone who is really in your life.  Someone you have a chance of dealing with every day.  Someone you could interact with and do things with FOR REAL!  What’s keeping you up at night is a fantasy, and though they are powerful, they are not REAL.  “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” – Albus Dumbledore.