Ships In the Night, Part 2

**This post is an update on the situation described in the previous post, Ships In the Night.**

Data made it to school the next day.  Despite the anxiety and the imagination that had gotten the best of him, he had survived the night.  I asked him about the pirates, and he responded with a look of confusion.  Not because he didn't remember our conversation.  He did.  The confusion was more from his inability to fully express is thoughts and ideas.  Remember, his English is far from perfect, so he may not have had the words to offer his true thoughts on the matter.  After some time and some thought, he explained that he and his friend had made the desperate decision to break the pirate treasure they had found in hopes that the pirates would then be satisfied and leave them alone.  It was his perception that this decision, no matter how difficult, had saved them from enduring the wrath of the revenge-seeking pirates.

I have to admit, I absolutely admire Data's imagination.  As you and I grow older, life can make it more and more difficult to maintain our childlike imaginations.  In some regards, that can be a good thing.  But in many other instances, it's rather unfortunate that we let it slip away from us.  We get caught up in the rigor of our day-to-day lives and fail to fully utilize one of the great gifts given to us as humans.

I'm obviously not encouraging each one of us to let our imaginations get the best of us to the point that we lose sleep over the possibility that pirates are after us.  But I'm guessing each of our lives would become a little more interesting if we let our imaginations run a little more freely, like we did when we were young.  When we imagined having superpowers, rather than focusing on our flaws.  When we imagined taking part in adventures that took us to the ends of the earth, rather than being worn down by the grind of everyday life.

Data's imagination transformed these last few days from ordinary to extraordinary.  They may be days he talks about for years to come.  The days he thought he was fleeing angry pirates.  It'll be a great story.  One that will probably get even better with each passing retelling.

I want to hear from you.  What stories do you have?  When did your imagination get the best of you?