Tag Archives: dreams

When Nightmares Attack

I’ve always had rather vivid dreams — or at least been very good at remembering my dreams. Sometimes, this is a good thing. A dream inspired my first published piece of fiction. Sometimes, this is a bad thing… like when I have a nightmare that makes me turn on all the lights, afraid to go back to sleep. According to the National Library of Medicine, nightmares are more common in childhood than in adulthood. (So are night terrors!) However, as much as fifty percent of adults (mainly women) still experience occasional nightmares. Tips to help prevent nightmares: Make a bedtime … Continue reading →

Night Terrors vs. Nightmares

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I’ve always had vivid dreams: happy ones, sad ones, nightmares, weird ones, dreams that eventually got turned into stories. But every once in a while, a dream leaves me in an absolute panic. I wake up in a sweat, heart pounding, afraid to move and even more afraid to go back to sleep for fear of being back in the dream again. I had one of those last night. While I used to think nightmares and sleep terrors were basically the same thing, they’re not. What’s the difference? Night terrors tend to happen within the first few hours of falling … Continue reading →

Want to Feel Treasured and Special?

Would you like to feel treasured and special? Don’t you think your spouse would like to feel treasured and special and glad they married you? Perhaps you could try this way to make it happen. Put your spouse first. Excuse me? I can hear some people say. How does that help me and make me feel treasured and special? Let me explain. ‘In some couples each person puts the other first’ this was an observation by the Katie, a child observer of Mr. and Mrs. Randolph in the novel True to Form by Elizabeth Berg. Yes, it is a novel … Continue reading →

Dare to Dream

Do you know your spouse’s dream? Have you ever bothered to find out what they’d really like to do if they had the chance? If you do know are you supporting them and helping them to realize that dream? When Mick and I went and saw ‘The Bucket List’ one of the things that struck me was how Carter Chambers ended up having a list of things he dreamt of achieving before he died – a list his wife neither knew about nor understood. He’d been married to the same woman for many years and she apparently had no idea … Continue reading →

Scents and Dreams (and Nightmares)

German researchers have found that different smells can influence your dreams. When study participants were exposed to bad smells (researchers used rotten eggs), they generally had bad dreams. When study participants were exposed to good smells (researchers used roses), the dreams were generally good ones. It does make sense — smell stimulates a whole lot of behaviors in the body. Different scents can influence emotion, bring back memories, increase or decrease appetite, and even stimulate sexual arousal. Dangerous smells can even trigger a fight-or-flight response. The scent of burning (even if it’s just my neighbors using their grill on the … Continue reading →

A Marital Nightmare

As you might have surmised by now, I’m keen on dreams. (For examples, see “The Dream: How I Knew Wayne Was the One” and “Do You Ever Dream About Your Spouse’s Family?”.) Here I go again… The Recurring Nightmare It’s never the same dream twice, but the theme is always the same: Wayne leaves me. I hate these dreams. (Nightmares.) It’s not like he just up and leaves and says, “Thanks, it’s been fun, but I’m done with us.” Oh no. In my dreams he’s usually mean about it. There’s usually another woman and right in front of my face … Continue reading →

When it is a Good Idea to Ask Yourself “What If?”

We have many of us heard that asking the “what if” question can be a trap; it CAN be a way of focusing too much on stuff that could happen and not enough on the present. Many experts will warn those of us who get stuck wondering what could happen to let go of those thoughts and try to get grounded in the present. I would like to argue, however, that asking the “What IF?” question can be a way of getting inspired and growth-focused for our home businesses. What if you expanded your business and started gathering customers in … Continue reading →

Do You Ever Dream About Your Spouse’s Family?

The other night I had a really tender dream about Wayne’s dad. He passed away several years ago rather unexpectedly. He was still young too. Only 60 and as feisty as ever. As you might expect, it was a huge blow to Wayne. He was really close to his dad and was shocked by the sudden loss. However, only six days prior we had spent a wonderful week with him. Tom (Wayne’s dad), Grandma Pryor (Tom’s mom), Keith (Wayne’s brother), Peach (Wayne’s aunt), and Kevin and Jerry Jr. (Wayne’s cousins) had all flown out to Florida so we could go … Continue reading →

Celebrate when You Realize Your Dreams

We single parents have a tendency to be rather focused folks. Add to that how we may be striving for some pretty challenging dreams AND the possibility that we might have high expectations and be somewhat hard on ourselves and we may forget to celebrate and acknowledge our accomplishments along the path of life. We need those celebrations, however, and we need to model for our children how to take a break and celebrate when we reach our goals. I have a confession to make, when I finally got my bachelor’s degree as a single parent, it was barely a … Continue reading →

Setting Priorities for your Money

Setting your own personal priorities and goals for your life in regards to money is really the very first step. However, many people skip it. They set up savings, investments and even their budget, without really taking the time to figure out their priorities. Very few people can achieve all their goals and desires. Still, if you can narrow down your dreams to a few key ones, the possibility of achieving them magnifies. Start first by making a list of all your financial dreams. Then review them, selecting the top five that are most important to you. If you have … Continue reading →