chapters. Don't avoid dealing with the dreams that may frighten youthe nightmares, the danger dreams, the death dreams; refusing to come to grips with them can keep you from remembering them and from getting valuable information for handling the difficulties in your life.
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Having a positive attitude toward dreams, whatever their content, can help overcome the conditioning we receive from our culture, which tends to downplay the significance of our nightly imaginings, often dismissing them as simply the result of indigestion, unrest, or anxiety. Most parents in our society instill the notion that dreams, especially nightmares, are best forgotten. "Go back to sleep; it's just a dream" is a statement often repeated to children. Fantasizing is usually considered a waste of time and less important than objective matters. With little encouragement from the culture around us to focus on dreams, it is no wonder that so few people are motivated to remember them. Confirmed nonrecallers often begin to recall dreams when they come to see how valuable their nighttime images can be for their relationships and their general well-being.
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Thanks to Sigmund Freud and other more modern dream theorists, we now view dreams as messages from our own psyche about a number of topics that hold special meaning for us. Now that the ball is in your court, though, you might forget your dreams because you are embarrassed by their personal content. In your dreams, you might commit acts you never would commit in your waking life, and you might want to put those acts into the back of your mind rather than confront the issues they may raise. Studies show, however, that people who are good at recalling their dreams are generally better able to confront their own fears and anxieties, whereas poor dream recallers tend to retreat from confrontation. Learning to remember your dreams and discussing their possible meanings
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