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!