Dream On

by Brittany Geragotelis

I did NOT sleep well last night. I was having a serious stress dream, so it was pretty restless.

I know it's not like this for everyone, but I usually always remember my dreams. Every once in a while my boyfriend remembers his, but me? Nearly every morning I can tell you all the details of what was going on all night in my head. Over the years I've grown aware of what some of my dreams mean. More specifically, when I'm stressing out big time.

There are a few dreams that have become regulars when it comes to measuring my levels of stress. Here are a few of them:

photo credit: JWiener

1. The school dream.
School was never an easy time for me. I did not have a good high school experience. High school was hell for me; the classes, grades, the kids, the self-doubt. It was probably the hardest time I've had to go through in my life thus far. When I'm feeling overwhelmed, I often dream that I'm being sent back to high school, because it turns out (in dreamland) that I was one credit shy of graduating. So I'm forced to go back and complete it...at the age of 31! Suddenly teachers are telling me what to do, I can't find where my classes are, and I realize that I've missed almost every one of my math/science classes of the semester and that I might be held back....again. Can you say stress dream?

photo credit: UWA

2. The cheer dream.
This one stars me as a cheerleader, and I'm either getting ready to perform a halftime routine or I'm trying out for the squad and I can't seem to remember the routine that I've been taught. Either that, or my teammates are having to teach me the moves at the last minute and I'm just not picking them up. I'm left panicking that I'm going to make a fool of myself in front of everyone! Big-time stress.

photo credit: YourTango

3. The cheating dream.
You can guess the details on this one. This one always has me finding out that my boyfriend is cheating on me. This dream in particular never has to do with my being stressed out about my relationship in real life....it's just one of my worst nightmares. So whenever I'm feeling freaked out about work, or life is especially hard, I find myself dreaming about my beau being with some bountiful blonde or faceless mistress. Once there were even twins. Not a fun dream to have.

photo credit: Disney

4. The angry friend dream.
This one's always interesting to me. In it, one of my friends is angry with me. I'm not sure what I've done to make them mad, but they make it clear they will not be forgiving me anytime soon. I'm left feeling guilty and sad and confused. Usually I wake up feeling the need to ask that friend, "Why are you so mad at me?!?!?! What did I do?" FYI, they're never mad at me in real life.

photo credit:
Image Property Services

5. The drunk dream.
This one always sucks. Usually, the dream starts with me being drunk and not knowing how it happened...just that I'm wasted. Most of the time, it's difficult for me to walk and talk in it; I keep falling down and have no control over my own body. I'm filled with shame and guilt over things that I know I've done while being drunk, but can't remember how I got to that point in the first place. I spend the dream trying to figure out how I'm going to do damage control once I sober up. Talk about stressful.

So, there you go. My most popular stress dreams. What do you dream about when times get tough? Do you remember your dreams at all? Leave your comments below and sweet dreams!

5x5,
B.