When You Dream of Bad Things Happening to Someone You Love
Although this is a common type of dream, it’s one that few people really want to think about – let alone try to find the dream interpretation!
Have you ever dreamed that something bad happened, or was about to happen to someone you love, as you watched? A recent reader recently sent me a dream to analyze that involved her watching as her husband was robbed by someone dressed as Richard Nixon.
How amazing is that?!
Anyway, she said that she watched as her husband handed over all of his money to “President Nixon.” She wanted to help her husband, especially since at one point it looked as though he was about to be hit on the head with a bat, but she was frozen in place.
When analyzing dreams, I often go with my initial gut reaction and this time I felt 110 percent confident with it. After complimenting her brain on its creativity (!!!), I e-mailed her back something along these lines:
While we often dream about something happening to our loved ones as a reaction to being worried about them (even more than usual) – we often dream these types of dreams when we’re upset with them – even incredibly angry at them! This dream would be that type of dream. The fact that the husband was the only one in any sort of danger indicates that he alone is on the recieving end of negative feelings. The good news is that since he wasn’t actually harmed, the feelings weren’t terribly bad!
Something else that’s interesting is the symbolism of money. The fact that the husband had to give all of his money away, while the wife retained her own purse and possessions indicates that the negative feelings spring from a financial disagreement, difference of opinion, or even resentment.
The only thing that mystified me was the Richard Nixon mask. I kept wondering why him? I went over a few things in my mind, such as what he represented:
- Trickiness (“Tricky Dicky”)?
- Dishonesty?
- History?
- Maligned?
I simply e-mailed her my thoughts, ignoring our ex-Presidentfor the time-being. I got an e-mail back within a few hours. It was filled with exclamation marks, because she thought I’d nailed it.
Apparently, her husband had recently spent a great deal of money on purchase that she felt was frivolous. She explained how they’d argued, how she had wanted a kitchen hutch, how he had stormed off to sit and sulk in McDonald’s for 3 hours (I love this guy! – I pointed out how lucky she was that he drowned his anger in milkshakes as opposed to something else!).
Then, she said the magic words that solved my Nixon mystery – she said that on the day he’d gotten his bonus check, he called and said he’d be home a few hours late, that he had to “pick something up.” She thought the something was the kitchen hutch she’d been eyeing for months. SO, when McDonald’s Mike (not his real name) showed up with a golfer’s dream set in the pick-up rather than a wife’s dream, she was floored. She said she met him outside and lit into him. She told him that it all felt like a “dirty trick” – aha! That’s where the Richard Nixon mask came in! Tricky Dicky strikes again.
It reminds me of the time my oldest two daughters had a HUGE fight when they were younger. The oldest one told me the following day that she’d had a dream that her younger sister was attacked and eaten by a crocodile. I asked, “Awww, are you upset by the dream?” (I was ready to reassure her that it was just a dream, and that nothing like that would ever happen.) My speech wasn’t necessary, though, because when asked if she was upset by the dream, she just said, “No, not really.” Then she smiled and went outside to ride her bike!
Dream Analysis: Dreams About Losing Things
I’ve been having dreams lately about losing things. In my dreams, I lose my keys, my truck, my belt. In one dream, I lost my German Shepherd. I don’t really have a problem with losing things in my real life. Certainly not my dog and truck. What do these dreams mean? There have been about 8 of them and I always wake up feeling frustrated and annoyed.
Dreaming of losing things is often a signal that there are just too many things going on in your life. When you’re being pulled in a great number of directions and/or you have a number of people counting on you, sometimes you feel like you’re losing control.
For example, I once heard from a man who had similar dreams. Turns out he was working a full time job and raising two sons by himself. Teenagers, at that. He said that he’d recently been given more responsibilities at work as well. When his dreams caused him to step back and realize that he was losing touch with what mattered most, he cut back on the overtime he was getting and boldly went to his boss to explain the situation. When he pointed out that he felt his sons needed him more at home, he says his boss was actually very impressed and helped him out a great deal.
Without taking away his recent pay raise! Cool bosses are so rare.
Take a good look at the way you described the feeling you got from the dreams: Frustrated and annoyed. We can learn so much about our lives and mindsets from simply looking at the feelings our dreams give us. You have undealt with frustrations in your life and I’d almost be willing to bet they stem from not having enough time to do everything you want to do.
Take steps to slow your life down and I promise you the dreams will leave as quickly as they came.
Good luck!
What We Can Learn From the Things We Say and Do in Our Dreams
Did you ever have a dream where you did or said something completely out of character for you? I’m sure you have, in fact, we probably all have at one time or another.
- A shy, soft-spoken person will dream of telling off an obnoxious co-worker.
- An extrovert will dream of a situation in which she was shy and unsure of herself.
- A daredevil will dream of being terrified.
- A total chicken will dream of soaring to new heights.
- The quietest man in the office will dream of being the life of the next office party.
And so on. In our dreams, we often “dare to go there.” The reason is this: Our inhibitions are totally down and the fears and reservations we experience in our daily lives simply don’t exist. We are invincible!
While the occasional dream may not carry much in the way of a life lesson, if we regularly dream of stepping outside of our comfort zone, our subconscious may be dying to do just that. Every now and again, examine your dreams for a pattern – especially if you possess traits in your dream that you seem to lack when you are awake. It may be time to open up a different side of yourself and take a few chances.
Our subconscious often craves the unexpected from us. The same-o, same-o can drag on and like a long-winded high school teacher. If your subconscious seems to be telling you to loosen up and “step livelier,” take its breath away by doing a dance.
Dreams of Being Lost – What Do These Dreams Mean?
A Recently Submitted Dream for Analysis:
I always dream about not being able to find my way somewhere, or not being able to find something that I knew was there before. I either can’t find my way home, or can’t find my way out of a house, or can’t find the proper road, etc. Last night’s dream – I put my bag in a post office box (that was on the outside of the post office for some reason), and then when I went to find it, I couldn’t. I went up and down streets looking for the box I put my bag in, but couldn’t find it. One other time, I was trying to find my way home and kept walking on different roads that kind of looked familiar, but were not the roads I needed to get home. One other was I was in a house with many rooms, and could not find my way out of it. All my dreams are like this, and I wake up before I find my way. What does this type of dream mean?
Fascinatingly enough, your dreams are actually covering several areas. They’re taking you by the hand and pulling you in several directions. It’s a wonder you aren’t completely frazzled!
Dreams of Being Lost
The key symbolism for dreams in which we lose our way (or can’t find it in the first place) is frustration. It’s a pretty common dream theme, simply because all of us are familiar with being frustrated. Whether it’s in school, at home, at work, or in a relationship – we all know the feeling of wanting something to go THIS way as we sit and watch it defiantly go THAT way instead!
Many Christians will experience dreams such as this when they feel that they’re “losing their way,” or that they aren’t reading their Bible often enough, praying enough, etc. I interpreted a dream for a lady,once, who had gone to her Catholic church for over 20 years. An injury at work left her unable to leave her house for a couple of months. She had dreams just about every night of losing either her teeth, her hair, her clothes, etc. Her church was such a huge part of her life that she felt like she was actually “losing herself.” I suggested that she call up members of her church and invite them over for coffee. When they found out how much she missed them, a few ladies began automatically coming by after each service – bringing her cookies, drinking coffee with her, and telling her what had gone on at the service. Is that sweet or what?! The dreams ended because she didn’t feel the loss so much any longer.
Dreams of Losing Objects
When we dream of losing something, it’s an indication that we feel we have, indeed, lost something. Parents who have young children suddenly enrolled in school (whether it’s first grade or college) will have frequent dreams like this because they subconsciously feel that they’ve lost something. Soon, however, they realize they haven’t lost the child at all and the dreams fade away.
On an even deeper level, many people who have made compromises in relationships (personal or professional) will have these dreams because they feel that they’ve lost a piece of themself.
I’d say that your dreams are definitely trying to tell you something. Any time dreams recur like this, there’s an underlying issue or emotion. I like to think of these hidden emotions as unopened e-mail. You know when you log in to your e-mail, it’ll tell you when you have unopened mail? Recurring dreams serve the same basic function – alerting us that we have undealt with emotions.
When we click on the unopened mail, the message goes away. We’ve dealt with it and there’s no need for it to bring anything to our attention any longer.
Think of your dreams along these lines. Spend a little time with yourself (no distractions) and ask yourself what losses you feel – whether they are literal, physical losses or emotional. More likely than not, you’ll get in touch with feelings you didn’t even fully realize you were having.
Good luck and sweet dreams!
Scratches in the Dream and Scratches in the Morning
A Troubling Dream From a Reader:
I sit up out of the bed with a strange feeling. I look at the clock and its 3:10 still early in the morning. My throat is dry so i get some ice like i always do and try to turn on the kitchen light, but it doesn’t turn on. My mind makes me turn to the door as i feel something there. I see a shadow with a short height as i peer at the dark blue curtains. I walked over to the curtains and opened them up to see my son of 6 years standing outside with a blank expression on his face. I opened the door in a rush and asked him why he was outside at 3 in the morning. He didn’t answer me. When I went to reach for him something gave me a small cut on my hand. I thought nothing of it as I brought him inside. I took off his brown coat and something swiped across my hand again. when I looked at his hand he held up a gold screw about the size of my pinky and I could see the extra sharp point on it. I watched him take his hand across his chest and felt the point swipe across me again. I jumped up out of my bed to notice everything was like my dream. My house was dark, it was 3:10, the only difference was that my light turned on in the kitchen, and my son was peacefully sleeping on the couch. My body was cold and tingling and on my hand were 3 small cuts. They weren’t random as they are above each other…my hand was really scratched..maybe you could help me and tell me what this means or what’s happening to me. I remember dreams often some more than others and I have some dreams repeatedly altho this is the first time I ever had this….thank you.
It’s really a wonder that this sort of thing doesn’t happen more often. While we’re asleep, sometimes we’ll scratch ourselves, get our limbs twisted around, or just find ourselves in some sort of uncomfortable position – then, our mind will work this into our dream. Some people dream that their finger is bitten by an animal only to wake up with their finger in their own mouth!
More likely than not, you somehow managed to scratch yourself while sleeping (it’d be much easier to explain if you had a pet!) – then your mind sort of inserted the experience into your dream.
Many times when we dream of a loved one in this sort of dream, it’s an indication that we were thinking about them right before we drifted off to sleep. I guess that’s why parents so frequently dream of their children. The dream also seems to indicate that you’ve been somewhat worried about “getting through” to someone recently. This person could or could not be your son.
It appears that you know what is best for someone else but are having a little trouble helping them to see. It could be something like trying to convince a friend that she’s wrong about a certain guy or it could be a case of trying to get your son to pick up his toys – it honestly could be just about anything. However, the intensity of the dream suggests that it’s something you feel very strongly about and that has been worrying you more than you really realize.
As for the clock reading the same time, that can be chalked up to crazy luck. The fact that you were cold and tingly can be attributed to the fact that you are a mother who was dreaming about her young child. Lots of emotions are involved there, and your body registered each one. Also, the fact that this dream seems very much like a lucid dream would explain its extreme effects on you.
Thanks for sharing your dream and I hope your scratches heal soon.
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