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Nightmares and Recurring Dreams
The best way to understand why we have nightmares is to think of nightmares as an
early warning system or an alarm that alerts us that something is wrong in our lives
and is hurting us, and we need to focus our attention on it & fix the problems so we
can overcome them and be happier. Being human, we don't always pay attention to
the subtle hints or little nudges that we need to do something, keep procrastinating
instead of tackling the problems, or we are so preoccupied with other matters that we
miss big issues that are about to blind-side us in our lives, so that's when nightmares
occur to help alert us so we can avoid a disastrous outcome caused by emotional
blocks or situations in our lives that we are not moving past or even recognizing.
Some nightmares are like practice sessions that test our abilities and outlook on a
given issue, to prepare us for going through a painful lesson in life such as the
break-up of a relationship, loss of a loved one, fears of death, loss of health; any
number of situations. At first the nightmares on these issues are a shock, but as we
get used to the issues they are pointing out and change our perception or get inspired
to learn new ways of handling painful issues, the nightmares lessen in their severity
and we achieve a sense of inner peace or calm.
Nightmares are like a last ditch effort to scream for your attention. There's nothing
like a heart-pounding, terrifying nightmare to get our attention and say, "Hey! What's
going on, here? I don't understand what this is about, and I need to know so I stop
having these nightmares!" That's when I usually hear from people who are seeking
help to get past this point, and once they understand the underlying issues that are
symbolized in their nightmares, they then discover which steps to take next.
Nightmares are actually helpful, in the same way that physical pain alerts us that
something is wrong with our bodies and needs healing, nightmares are a helpful
warning or alert to us that our emotional and mental state has a glitch that needs
work and healing to get past, because it's somehow making our lives harder and more
painful.
Dreams prepare you for current and future events in your waking life. They also
point out to you areas in your life that need to be healed, or worked upon.
Nightmares are usually your deepest fears symbolized by frightening, horrifying
images. If you learn to face your fears instead of running away or ignoring them, then
the nightmares will disappear or evolve into regular non-threatening images.
Nightmares are your wake-up call to problems you need to solve in waking life. Why
are they so frightening or graphic? Because that's what most effectively gets our
attention.
Unfortunately, we don't usually pay attention until our dreams get to this point, and
then we sit up and take notice. It's similar to the way in which we pay attention to
our bodies...pain may be unpleasant, but we finally realize that there is a health
problem or injury that needs to be tended to, and then take care of it. The pain
may start out mild, but the longer we ignore the problem, the worse it gets until we
simply must take care of the problem. It's the same situation with dreams; we may
get numerous messages in regular, non-frightening dreams, but not pay attention.
Finally, when the situation gets to a vital point in which a problem must be taken
care of pronto, we will get the nightmare. One of my favorite quotes is this:
The Fates lead him who will; him who won't, they DRAG!
Once you get used to paying attention to more subtle messages in regular dreams,
you won't have to be »hit over the head« with a nightmare to clue into a problem, and
take care of it. In this way, just as pain helps you avert a more serious physical
disaster, nightmares prevent a problem in your waking life from getting advanced to
the point of not being able to fix it.
You can learn helpful techniques for conquering your nightmares by finding
information on dream symbols and learning how to interpret your dreams, so you can
start learning without having to be »hit over the head« with a nightmare. I have been
»dragged« plenty in life, and I finally started learning to clue in earlier to what my
dreams were telling me, and I must say I feel much more in-tune with my intuition
and what is going on in my life ever since. It clears away a lot of the confusion.
Recurring Dreams
Recurring dreams are similar to dream themes, except that in dream themes the
dream itself can change, while in a true recurring dream or nightmare, the dream
narrative is always the same or nearly identical. This is pointing out something very
important for you to »get« and understand, and usually recurs during triggering
events in your life that the dream represents. For instance, if the dream represents
fear of abandonment, and all of a sudden you & your spouse are having marital
difficulties, then this dream could recur. Same thing if a spouse or loved one dies or
moves away--those events could also trigger the dream to recur. What seems like a
nuisance or unpleasant nightmare is really a helpful signal to you that there is an
issue that's deeply bothering you and needs to be brought to the surface and fully
healed. Once this is done, the recurring dream will either evolve or disappear from
your dreams altogether. If you find the dream or nightmare getting WORSE instead
of better, you are getting a stronger message to correct the issue it represents before
it becomes a much bigger problem in your life, and I wouldn't suggest ignoring that
message, if I were you!
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