What do our dreams mean?

In this dream, my parents went out and bought a new house, so we were all packing. What was strange was the fact that the rest of the family did not have the opportunity to view the new house before my parents purchased it, so the new house would be a surprise to us. My siblings were all packed and ready to move, whereas I procrastinated like crazy. On the day before we were to move, I was in a frenzy to get all of my stuff packed into boxes as time was quickly running out. I managed to get all of my stuff into boxes on time.

The next thing I remember, I was outside of our new house. The new house seemed to be in some sort of a new development, as I recall looking to my right and seeing a number of similar looking houses that were all pretty new.

When I opened the door and entered our new house, I was floored. This house wasn’t a house…it was a mansion! The ceilings were higher than I’ve ever seen in any house. On my left was a staircase that wound all the way into the high ceiling. There must have been at least 25-30 stairs. The house looked as if it was professionally decorated. I felt like I had walked into a custom home build by the “Extreme Makeover” team in that everything was just so beautiful and well placed that I didn’t even want to touch anything for fear that I might break or smudge something.

After that, I slowly and carefully made my way up the stairs. When I arrived at the top, there was a sizable hallway with numerous doors. I walked through the hallway, looking into each door as all the doors were open. I saw the room belonging to my parents. I kept walking and passed my sister’s room. I kept walking even more and saw my brother’s room. I knew that my room would come up soon. I kept walking and looked into the next room. Strangely, this room was occupied by a guy that I went to high school with. What’s he doing here?? I kept walking. The next room had a girl I went to high school with. Huh?? Oh, well the next room maybe? No. This room was the bathroom. I kept walking to the final door. This had to be my room. No. Closet. So, I took my blankets and my pillows and slept on the couch.

The next thing I remember is asking my Mom how far away our house was from the main road. I don’t drive, so if I go out, I’m taking the bus, getting a ride from a family member, or being picked up by someone. When I asked my Mom, she responded: “Oh, it’s only 3 minutes away. Come, I’ll show you”.

She walked up the winding staircase. Where’s she going? We were just standing beside the front door..?? She opened up a window and climbed out onto a large branch from a tree. There were many wide branches all clustered together. She looked back for me, so I followed. I looked down and was scared. The branches weren’t particularly sturdy, and the floor underneath the branches seemed very far away. I had to extend both of my arms outward in order to maintain my balance.

“This way!” my Mom said casually. I carefully walked on the branches after my Mom. We soon got to the end of the branches, much to my relief. What I wasn’t relieved to see was a large set of monkey bars after the trees. Well, they weren’t exactly monkey bars. They were those rings that you can swing across on…like the ones that used to be on our playgrounds when we were young,…or the ones you might remember from American Gladiators. My mom began to swing across the rings with ease. “Let’s go!” she said happily but casually. I followed her. My arms hurt as I wasn’t used to using the rings. I don’t think I’ve been on rings (or monkey bars, for that matter) since I was in grade 5.

Finally, at the end of the rings, was the main road. Wow. Is that what I’d have to do each time I wanted to get to the main road?

At this point, I woke up. Strange.

I know that I am a procrastinator. What happens to me sometimes is I procrastinate and I procrastinate…but in the end, I usually end up getting things done just as well, if not better, than others. Perhaps that’s why I managed to get all of my stuff packed, even though I started just 1 day prior.

What about me not even being able to see the house before it was purchased? Could it be that we cannot always see or predict what is in our future, but we shouldn’t always be afraid of what we don’t know or what we don’t see? The future may actually hold something positive?

What about me not having my own bedroom? I have to say that I sometimes feel very bound and tied down by dialysis. I don’t get to go on any spur of the moment trips to Vegas or Cancun with my friends. Everyone else gets to do these things…and I don’t. I’m left out…and am often feeling alone in that regard.

The main road? I’ve been through trials and tribulations in my life. Lupus, dialysis, joint issues, and now, smouldering myeloma. I’ve been overdosed on IV medication by a nurse. I’ve had a perforation in my colon and have had to wear a colostomy bag for 6 months. I’ve lost my ability to walk for a period of time. All of these trials and tribulations that I’ve been through have, in some cases, ended the journey of life for others who have gone through the same. And yet, I’ve managed to get through all of these difficult times, the “unsteady tree branches and the challenging rings”. The branches required mental strength and balance, while the rings required physical strength, coordination, etc. I don’t know what my “main road” will be. Maybe there will be a cure for Lupus in my life time. Maybe one day God will just be like…”Ok, that’s enough”, and I’ll just be “better” all of a sudden.

I spoke to my Dad about my dream. We discussed the ‘main road’ analogy. After discussing this with him, it lead me to think more about the dream and come up with what the other aspects of the dream may have meant.

Dreams that are this vivid are not all THAT common for me. Let’s see what tonight holds…