Poised for change

Analysis of the week on dream submitted by P.S. of Torquay, Australia.

Dream:  During my dream, my male friend and I approached two young jockeys.  They were in the saddle of their race horses in the middle of a race.  Yet, these horses we focused on weren't winning.  Curiously, these jockeys and the race were in slow motion. I decided to take control.  My friend reluctantly followed.  We ran up to the jockeys, I pushed them off their horses.  We struggled to push the horses to the finish line.  We beat all the other horses.  I yelled at my friend for being slow, yet I felt guilty.

In reality, my friend and I had bet on two horses that didn't place in that particular race.  We were angry and disappointed about our choices as well as the small financial loss.  I admit, I'm also rather negative in my thinking and somewhat critical in my comments to this friend and other people. Both my friend and I are aged in our 60s. I often feel sad that the good life is "passing me by."

Predominant Emotions: Aggression, pride, hostility, fear, selfishness and vulnerability.

Interpretation: You need to recognize and pin down the shadows of your inner demons that take shape in dreams. As you do, emotions that scare you in waking life lose power and no longer scare you. Shadows may be interpreted as dark sides of your personality. Yet, they also have positive qualities that merit attention. The shadow symbolizes unknown or little-known attributes and qualities of the ego. Rest assured, this doesn't describe all of your unconscious personality. It invites you to recognize all of your parts.

When a person first becomes aware of their intentions to vent negative feelings, that person may consciously feel humbled and ashamed. The result is you may resist or avoid identifying the negative sides to your personality and condemn traits in other people that you repress in yourself. Whenever you refuse to acknowledge feelings and the underlying reasons why you have them, this evokes more discomfort in yourself.

Negative feelings don't have to seem like your inner demons. Remind yourself the darker side of your personality only lashes out when it is ignored or misunderstood. The forms it takes in dreams represent the qualities you believe you dislike in others, and yet, these are also qualities you resist accepting in yourself. When you stop pushing away the truth, that is, what you sense deep inside, you begin to realize you have potential to evolve into a more integrated whole.

You may brainstorm meanings of dream symbols. The key is to uncover and acknowledge repressed feelings and explore meanings of their root causes. After all, you run your own race, at your own pace. If you're in a hurry to get somewhere new and aren't happy where you stand, you will only truly feel "back in the saddle" when you're poised and ready for change. As you're more honest with your feelings, self-love will invite other love.