Category Archives: Physical Pain/Discomfort

Clarity Comes From Clues in the Negative Emotions

I’m living in a cluttered space. Assailants enter the home. I’m on a rocky ship & the rooms start to spin. When I wake up I still feel dizzy – wondering what will help bring clarity and tranquility to the day. (To read this dream in full click here)

The powerful emotions in this dream appear negative but the secret key of working with dreams for personal growth is using the so-called negative dreams as CLUES for unlocking the mysterious puzzles preventing us from having the harmony & peace we want in our lives. Dreams like this often cause feelings of confusion, being disorientated, unmotivated or somewhat powerless. But when I work THROUGH the metaphor then I feel clear-minded, focused, motivated & powerful.

Here are some things to consider, perhaps in a mediation:

  1. GO INTO the NEGATIVE, instead of avoid it.
  2. Focus on one inner goal/intention at a time. (keep things simple)
  3. Recite Mantras or Affirmations if you find it useful to bring your attention back to your intention.
  4. Remember: Negative Emotions are TEACHERS. Ask: What is this “sadness” teaching me.
  5. Consider when was the first time feeling this negative emotion, or dealing with this type of situation. What was helpful? What didn’t work?

In real life, I tend to enjoy a Minimalist Lifestyle. Simple. Clutter-free. Organized. It’s one thing to declutter a home but a completely different thing to declutter a mind. Reflecting on metaphors really helps to clean out the cobwebs & unpack the old broken records in the mind. Reflecting on these questions might really help to create Clarity & Tranquility.

Give it a try and share your reflections in the comments below!

My Dream of Running an AirBnB

September 30, 2018

In the dream, I’m running an AirBnB. After the visitors leave I go into the place and find they’ve left it in complete disarray which gives me a feeling of frustration. I get busy cleaning it and it takes a long time to get it back to its original condition.

My Dream About Delivering Two Dead Babies

September 22, 2018

In the dream, I’m operating on the lead character in the series BONES. She’s the leading forensic anthropologist in the world, known for her excellence in studying the remains of murder victims. Alongside the coroner & forensic team she discovers cause of death, the murder weapon, and the murderer.

The reason I’m operating on her is that she’s become deathly ill and we were doing surgery to try to eliminate the cause of her illness. When operating, I discover she had two unborn fetuses in her womb and these were the cause of her illness. We removed the infant skeletons and knew she would be okay and recover. In the dream I was preparing for the grief she would feel when I tell her she had miscarried two babies. But also, I knew she had given birth to one, so of the set of triplets, one lived & two died.

My Dream of Watching Someone Skate

July 23, 2014 – I dream I am watching a woman skate. She’s on an out-door rink, graceful and confident. She’s coaching someone else who isn’t dressed properly for the snow and ice, who is a lot younger than her. She doesn’t seem to mind. I find myself noticing the curves and shape of her body as she’s wearing black tights and a loose shirt. I wonder how does she feel confident being so exposed like that. Does she really not mind or is she pretending to not mind? She appears to not even mind. I think of myself and if I was wearing that on the ice I would be so uncomfortable with how form-fitting it is and how people gaze not on the skill of the movement but just on the physical form.

My Dream About Cleaning a Disasterous House

In my dream last night, I was at some sort of outdoor-camp summer school setting. After a short while I noticed it was very dirty. Campers were just leaving things on the floor, on counters, in sinks and the bathrooms were a disaster with towels, water, and excrement all over the place. It was disgusting & gross and I wanted to leave but this concept kept coming to mind to “be attracted to the difficult thing” so I also wanted to stay and help clean up. I was wandering around looking at the filth and deciding if I could stomach the mess and tolerate the discomfort long enough to clean it or if I should just leave it alone and get out of there. As I was deciding to stay someone offered me a joint and because I was thinking more about the mess than what he was saying I agreed to buy one for $1.50. When he went to get it for me and I went to my purse to get the change I realized what I had just agreed to but thought, “Well, maybe if I’m high I’ll be able to clean this place and stick it out.” So I bought the joint and started contemplating how to tackle this disgusting mess.

That was my dream. Here is the section of the 19-Day Transformation Program which presents the idea to be attracted to the difficult thing because that’s where the growth is.

Day 15: Being Attracted to the Difficult Thing

Published February 10, 2013 by Richard Hastings at www.dreamsforpeace.worpress.com

O SON OF MAN! If adversity befall thee not in My path, how canst thou walk in the ways of them that are content with My pleasure? If trials afflict thee not in thy longing to meet Me, how wilt thou attain the light in thy love for My beauty? Baha’u’llah

 

The other day I was working with someone in a counseling session.   She was telling me a dream that she had sent me that was filled with fearful images including being threatened by someone throwing a snake at her.   When she was finished, she said, “That was a good one.”   I told her that that was something I would say.   Very few people encounter and internal state of immense fear and then have positive energy toward working on it.   Usually when people have fear, they tend to do everything they can to not have to transform it.

Within the confines of doing dream work or change work fear is not seen as a negative even though it is felt that way in the body. In actuality fear only becomes a negative when it is present in your everyday waking life.   When you are involved in the process of changing it, it is a positive thing.   In fact it is hard to imagine, although it is possible, to do significant change work without a large dose of a fear-related emotion.   Fear is good because it gives you the script through which to get the positive energy on the other end.   A dream with a great deal of fear in it is even better because it is like a spiritual guide to where you want to go.

Facing a large fear is like training on hills.   Hill work is a lot more challenging than running on a flat surface because every step up is worth two or three on the flat.

No human being on the planet is completely free of fear so when we have them, the best attitude toward them is being able to look forward to working on them.   You can look forward to transforming a fear in same way that you look forward to taking a holiday.   Every time you make progress on the fear it brings more positive energy into your life.   It doesn’t matter how long it takes to overcome a fear because some fears are pretty complex and built with a lot of life experience. Your soul becomes fitter every time you look into the ego, see the dark places, then change them to light.

Today I am having a uniquely Malaysian experience. Last night we had some guests at our house that left large piles of dishes.   I was so delighted at seeing the dishes because today is the day our maid is supposed to come and clean our house.   However, we found out a little while ago that she is not coming. Now the mountain in the kitchen is mine to tackle.   So the challenge for me is to to be able to think about it in a positive way.   This is where the rubber really hits the road.

Having a positive attitude toward overcoming fear is an absolute necessity to a life of change, but some fears can be so crippling that you need a lot of help in overcoming them especially when you have a history of alcohol-related abuse and other abuse in your past.   You can still have a positive attitude about facing the fears. You just need the right avenues for help.

The work for today is do the thing you least want to do, but have a positive attitude doing it.

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The 19-Day Transformation Program can be purchased at Dreams For Peace.

My new book Dreams From the Box ~ A Close Look at Jail Metaphors is coming soon.