Dream May Be Reminder, Warning

Dear Nancy: I have had this recurring dream for several months. The theme is the same but the details often change. My guess is that the dream is telling me I’m going nowhere fast or that I don’t know where I’m going but I’m making very good time! Do you have any other ideas? - Rich

I’m going overseas to Europe. I’m at a hotel near the airport when I realize I haven’t got my passport and I don’t have enough money. I call home to have my passport and money sent by express mail to the boarding gate. It doesn’t arrive in time, but I go anyway. I get a great seat right in the cockpit - and I fly the plane.

When I arrive in Europe, I have to sneak around since I don’t have identification or money. Returning to the United States, I manage to get past European customs and once again fly the plane home. When I arrive, American customs won’t let me through and I wake up stuck at some grimy East Coast airport. I never make it home.

Dear Rich: It’s always a good practice to check our dreams for literal meanings.

Do you have any plans for travel in the near future? If so, you might want to check to make sure you have everything you need including papers, insurance, cash, etc. Our dreams often give us reminders and warnings of things to come.

Now let’s shift and look at the dream symbolically.

Airports are places of transition, of moving from one place to another. Are you going through a transition in your life, either physically, mentally or emotionally?

Do you want to make a change but find that you don’t know what you want or are without the resources to do the things you’d like to do?

Being the plane’s pilot says you like to be in charge. This is positive and shows you are not dependent upon other people, that you’re self-directed and confident.

Over the telephone, you told me that you left a prestigious, high-paying military position to start a small business and that the transition has been confusing, belittling and filled with regrets.

In your dream, you leave your identification and money behind. Isn’t this exactly what you did when you left your position?

Because of this, you have now less resources and feel a loss of identity. Although you are still the same person, you are not receiving the same respect and compensation you enjoyed in your previous position.

You also said that right now you feel stuck.

Even though we know that we are not simply our jobs, it’s important to have work that is compatible with who we are. The gifts of frustration and difficulties make us examine our lives and create new options.

I wish you the best, Rich.

Reader tip: Have you ever gone to sleep with a particular problem on your mind, then awakened with the answer?

Most people experience that phenomenon some time in their lives. Just imagine what you could solve if you ask your dreaming mind directly for an answer to your problem.

If you’ve ever had an experience with this phenomena, please send me a letter about your problem-solving dream. I would love to hear from you.