Food for Thought: Wanting What Isn't Yours

Have you ever wanted someone who was unavailable?  Ever lusted after someone who was already taken?  Everyone has been here at one time or another, and that is wanting something that isn't yours.  Whether it was as a child, wanting a toy that belonged to someone else, or a teen, coveting your friend's brand-new sports car, most of us, at one time or another, have wanted something that didn't belong to us.  What we do with those feelings can be either productive or destructive.  (For instance, envying a friend's successful career could inspire someone to work harder at theirs to attain similar success.  Or, on the flipside, a person could let jealousy consume them and wallow in misery, or even worse, lash out and try to sabotage someone whom they envied.)  When the object of your desire - or "thing" you covet - is a particular person, though, that's where things get tricky.

Most people with at least a few years of dating experience have been here before, and that's been interested in someone who's not available.  What is it about someone who's taken that makes them that much more attractive?  Is it the fact that we can't have them?  That someone else wants them, too?  Maybe it's the challenge, who knows.  I know you can all probably agree with me that the instant you're in a relationship, all of these interested "prospects" seem to appear out of nowhere, when they seemed to be nowhere to be found when you were single!

So the question is, if you met someone whom you were wildly attracted to and seemed so right for you, and who seemed to be diggin' you as well, but they just happened to be taken, is it okay to pursue them, knowing you may not have another chance?  Is it best to follow your heart and at least tell them how you feel?  Or, is it better to take the high road and let the happy couple be?  On the one hand, you'll never know unless you try, and telling someone how you feel isn't the same thing as making a physical move on them (or worse, jumping into bed with them) right?  On the other, if someone's taken, most would probably say to leave them alone, and that doing anything otherwise - even if they don't technically cheat with you, whether emotionally or physically - would be playing with fire.

There's no right or wrong answer, only the choices you make and your own point of view.  What would you do - or have done - in this situation?  What would be considered right or wrong?  Is all really fair in love and war?