Anchors away...again!

Our Dreamer Writes:

Dear SMYD,

          I have been out of the US Navy for about 30 years.  In those days I was a Radioman, the one who sends and receives electronic messages from onboard a ship.  Back then the radioman’s job entailed typing messages on a teletype and sending them to the appropriate addresses.  This was the manual form of today's email!  My current job at the bank is equivalent - kind like an IT tech.

In the past I never dreamed of my Navy days, but now I often do.  In these dreams, I am always in my old rate of radioman and making mistakes.  I would make errors in finding the right addresses, errors in my typing, not preforming certain procedures correctly and not knowing enough about my job for my rank.

Sometimes I do all right, but most of the time I made many errors and got into trouble for it.  Some of the dreams were on ship and some in barracks on land.  There was a general feeling of loss throughout my dreams.

             Since my tenure began at the bank, I have had a feeling of returning to my past and of not growing up, as if I have not learned anything and am making the same mistakes over and over, which in some cases is true in reality.  I get into the same troubles in my dreams and in reality!  These mistakes continue to haunt me to this day!  I just don’t understand why I keep dreaming about being in the Navy!

Signed,

Onboard Ship Again

Dear Onboard,

You have done a pretty good job of making the connections between your dream and your waking reality.  The mistakes you made as a radioman seem to be the same mistakes you’re making in your current job.  You’re still getting in trouble for your errors, and you still find it frustrating as evidenced by your feeling of being haunted by the past.  You said it clearly – “I have had a feeling of returning to my past and of not growing up, as if I have not learned anything and am making the same mistakes over and over.”

The parallels between your experiences in the Navy and your current life experiences are most likely the reason your dreams are set in the Navy.  So long as the experiences replay and repeat in your waking life, your dreaming self is likely to find ways to point them out, showing that your assessment is true:  the biggest part of growing up is learning from past mistakes and leaving them behind, not repeating them! 

Even a small change can help you break the cycle of making the same errors and suffering the same consequences.  Seek the advice of a trusted co-worker or friend in developing a game plan for improvement.  Taking small step after small step can free you in your waking life and in your dreams as well!

Sweet Dreams to You, Dear Dreamer!