Some Common Dream Themes

There are a number of common dream themes. These include being chased, being late or unprepared for work, school, or an exam, failing a test, taking the wrong road or turn, and appearing naked in public. Many people encounter one or more of these themes in their dreams, so there is no need for undue concern. 

However, if your dream is recurring, then you should make a concerted effort to get to the cause. Something is unresolved in your life, and your subconscious is concerned to the point that the message is sent repeatedly. You are failing to take the appropriate action to resolve the issue, so it continues to play out in your dreams.

Consider the following example of a man who constantly spends more than he earns and finds the financial situation worsening. In a dream, he might be failing a class in finance or find himself unprepared in accounting. The dream theme will continue until the problem is recognized and corrected.

In another case, in a dream a woman might be late for work or school. This might simply relate to her not getting something done in a timely manner. If this is habitual, this might be a recurring dream theme.

Numeric symbols often are prominent in such dreams. If, for example, you fail the first or tenth grade, the dream might relate to your spiritual life since the number one is associated with the universal or God.

Taking the wrong road or the wrong turn has an obvious connotation. If you have such a dream, this calls for an examination of your life and decisions you have recently made.

If in a dream you appear naked in public, don’t panic. You may have become exposed in some way, often emotionally. Or perhaps you wanted something about yourself to remain secret, but others became aware of it. The dream is unlikely to have anything to do with removing your clothes in public. 

As I have emphasized in my previous posts, most of your dreams are about issues in your current life. If you want to understand your dreams, you must begin to examine your life. The dreams are not separate from your life, but are cleverly interwoven with everything you think and do. 

You cannot hope to interpret your dreams if you refuse to take an honest look at your life, not as you would like it to be, but as it actually is. Perhaps we would all like to be more than we are. First, we must understand what we are in our daily lives; then we can become aware of the greater self that is beyond our self-imposed limitations.