The Pros and Cons of Believing in Dreams and Interpretations
Dreams can grip the mind so strongly that you sometimes lose sight of reality. Sometimes these dreams become nightmares, and you can be affected even when you are certain you are wide awake. With the influence dreams and nightmares can have on your life, there can be both advantages and disadvantages to believing in dream interpretations.
You are your dreams
Shakespeare is quoted to have written, “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”
Though the meaning of the quote is meant to display the effervescence that is life, you cannot help but agree with the statement. We are our dreams. If you do not dream, are you truly alive? Or are you an android without any electric sheep?
The American Psychological Association published an interesting study on dream interpretation that looked at people from the United States, South Korea, and India. The objective was to find out whether or not various populations believed in the hidden meaning of dreams. Most did. Thus, the researchers concluded that dreams can become “a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Letting a dream coerce the actions you take upon waking is certainly going to have an influence on your life. Whether you decide to pursue a new career or hop on a plane to another country, listening to your dreams can have a huge impact on how you interpret the entire world.
Pro: A look within your own mind
Humans are complex creatures, and our minds are the hardest puzzle ever. Even with all the research, scientists still cannot figure out why people dream what they do. I, personally, think dreams are an excellent way of unlocking the secrets you are hiding from yourself. Because so many people live without becoming attuned to their intuition, dreams are one of the few doorways intuition can reach you.
Thus, looking at the clues of what you witness while dozing can give you a great understanding of your true thoughts and feelings. Your dreams say a lot about who you really are and what you truly desire.
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Pro: Understanding other cultures
In the same way reading into your dreams can reveal some inner chambers of your heart and mind, understanding how other cultures think and feel is easier when listening to how dreams are interpreted throughout the world. Believe it or not, not every culture looks at symbolism in dreams with an identical perspective.
Certain animals have varying meanings, for example. However, no matter the country or culture, everyone also experiences similar dreams, like school problems, getting chased, standing on stage naked, falling, and hair or tooth loss.
Pro: Problem-solving
Ever wake up from a dream and think to yourself, “Now I know what I have to do?” Dreams can be a wonderful way of resolving issues in reality. Though the resolution might not be as evident as it is in the real world, being able to test out various scenarios while you dream is definitely an advantage. It is kind of crazy how dreams can be this helpful, especially when you begin to realize just how much you overlook when you are awake.
Con: Overthinking an imaginary scenario
One of the things that can truly freak people out is reading too much into a dream, especially the romantic ones. Nothing is worse than waking up from a dream where the person of your dreams, who you have not seen in years, has confessed their undying love for you. Then you start thinking about where they are now, who they are with, and if they are thinking of you. It can become consuming. Mind-wracking.
Or, you can have dreams about dead family members coming back from the grave, or living members suddenly vanishing from you life. You can see dreams that seem like predictions of future events. All of these unfortunate scenarios can truly haunt a person who has a habit of overthinking things; and all this can lead to analysis-paralysis, where you get so caught up thinking you lose the ability to act.
Con: Depression and sadness
Dreams and nightmares have ways of intoxicating us with the “what if” scenario. You can get drunk on the possibility of a life like the one in your dream, albeit that world is more or less favorable than reality. You might become depressed that reality is too either far too similar or distant from the world of your dreams.
You might get sad about the absence of the romance that is available in your dreams. And if you truly delve into the meanings of your dreams, you become depressed when those symbols end up having very little while awake.
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Neutral: Opportunities gained and lost
When you interpret the symbols in your dreams, you might reveal a number of avenues to both seize and forfeit opportunities. How you choose to read into your dreams is ultimately up to you, which means that if you toss the meaning of falling as being stressed out then take on another project and get sick because of it, then that is your fault for not listening to your intuition.
If you have a dream about the plane to the next big meeting crashing and decide to skip out, only to find out the plane actually does not crash, you have a missed opportunity. On the same note, if all you dream about is your hobbies, then maybe you should be devoting more time to your passions.
Reading into the meanings of your dreams comes with both pros and cons, especially if you take them to heart. Dreams can be a wonderful asset in unlocking the doors to potential.
Dreams can also be like a drug that leave you transfixed on imaginary situations, rendering you incapable of making any real life decisions. Whatever you think dreams may be, just remember to live life to the fullest, since both are so fleeting.
