Here’s another one from Anna in Wyoming. I had interpreted one of Anna’s previous dreams (“About Being Violent in Dreams) on my blog site and this is a new one.
Because of my previous interpretation of her dream, when she had this new one, she got the message that she was still over-reacting to incidents at work. She therefore made a point to tone down her reactions at work, stay cool and calm and non-confrontational. Because she paid attention to the dream, we’ll see how she was rewarded for her decision. Here’s her email to me:
There’s this one co-worker at work whose attitude is really frustrating to me. Although he’s never said anything, I can tell he doesn’t like the way things are going, but he’s never really talked to me about it. In fact, as team leader, I personally feel things could be a lot more efficient. In the dream, this guy mumbles things to himself or acts bored and frustrated, but he doesn’t communicate it to me. In the dream, I can really sense his resentment.
There are other co-workers who aren’t happy either, but again, they don’t really communicate with me. There is this one woman who is unhappy because she really wants things at the office to be good, but she’s too shy to say anything.
At one point, the co-worker with attitude comes up to me and finally says something rude and disrespectful. I get so angry I pick up a pen and stab him in the throat. I’m horrified as I’m doing it, but his face slowly becomes papery and burns away, and he falls to the ground.
When I woke up, again I was horrified. I remembered how you interpreted my previous dream and I wanted to pay attention. I made a decision to be cautious and not to react that strongly to this guy at work.
A week later, my boss called a meeting and told me that as team leader, I would have to lead the talk. Boy, I dreaded that meeting.
The meeting day came and I got up and decided I was just going to say exactly how I felt about why the work wasn’t progressing as it should. The attitude guy finally spoke up and began to list a chronicle of things that were bad or wrong about how we were handling the work. When he finished, everyone was waiting for me to respond. I did feel somewhat attacked and defensive, but I remembered the dream and decided I simply wasn’t going to stab this guy in the throat like in the dream.
So I took a breath and said, “Look, I think you’re 100% right and I will do everything in my power to change and correct our procedures.” Then I contributed some of my ideas how to do that. To my surprise, shy-girl got up too and contributed her thoughts, many of which supported mine. I was so grateful that she could find the courage to speak up. I was so proud of her, and even more because she was confirming my own ideas. A few more people spoke up and in the end, it was a very good meeting.
The next day my boss called me in. He raved about the meeting. He said that before I came, no meeting had ever been that constructive. He said I was the only one in the company who could pull it off because I had the ability to communicate in a way which people could relate to.
I was shocked by his response… and very happy. Being new to the company and being a team leader, I knew the attitude-guy resented me and I thought the shy-girl didn’t like me very much.
I’m writing you because I’m wondering if by paying attention to the dream, I changed the outcome somehow.
Of course you did, Anna! You did a brilliant thing. Whether you realize it or not, you followed the message in the dream. You COMMUNICATED your thoughts and feelings instead of acting on them. What did you use to stab the guy with? A pen, right? What does a pen do? It puts words on paper. And what did his face become? Paper, right? Putting pen to paper is what's called communicating.
Further to the metaphor, you stabbed his THROAT. What is the physical manifestation of communication? TALKING… and that comes from the throat. In fact, your cooperative response to the situation undoubtedly "burnt away" a lot of the attitude-guy's resentment.
Congratulations! You may not have literally interpreted your own dream the way I just did… but you intuitively got the gist of it and followed your instincts.
Brilliant! Fantastic! Way to go! Wishing you similar future successes in your snoozling journeys.
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