CH1: Definitions

[Big_Sissy]

I thought these were worth noting down since they give meaning to these words that I previously did not realize.

Feelings:
1) To perceive or to be aware of through thought, bodily or emotional reactions, instinct, etc.
2) To produce an indicated overall condition, impression or reaction
3) An impression produced upon a person; having sensation
4) Marked by or indicating emotion

Thoughts
1) That which the mind thinks
2) The act or process of using the mind actively and deliberately
3) The product of thinking; an idea, concept, judgment, etc.
4) Inward reasoning; the workings of conscience.

Emotions
1) A strong surge of feeling marked by an impulse ot outward expressions, and often accompanied by complex bodily reactions; any strong feeling as love, hate, or joy.
2) Any agitation of mind or excitement of sensibility.
3) A moving of the mind or soul.

Beliefs:
1) Acceptance of truth or actuality of anything without certain proof; mental conviction.
2) The which is believed; something held to be true or valid. BELIEF denotes acceptance with or without proof or strong emotional feelings.

Taken from Feelings Buried Alive Never Die... page 7.

I really appreciated her example of the difference between Feelings and Emotions on page 8. Feelings are just that, emotions, are feelings followed by some outward action.

I think I'm really going to enjoy this book.

[Mamallama]

I really liked that example too explaining the difference between feelings and emotions. I'd never thought of it like that before.

I also find this quote to be very true as well: “Whatever we choose to focus our attention on will automatically multiply in our lives. If our attention is on our troubles or the injustice of the past, they will become our trials of the present also. If instead our minds are focused on the blessings we have received or the love of God, family and fellowman, these will grow stronger.

I love how the author brought out the point that we are at least 5 dimensional: Spiritual, emotional, mental, physical and social and that our lives are so much better when we keep these 5 dimensions balanced…..attending to them equally.

It’s interesting that she brings up the importance of this balance, because this is something I’ve been thinking about a lot and trying to work on more-----that of finding the right balance in and between all areas of my life. I sometimes feel like my life is like I am walking on a tight-rope with things being thrown at me and people shaking my tight-rope constantly to try and get me to lose my balance and fall off that tight-rope. It is SO hard to keep the right balance!

[Big_Sissy]

Sheesh, I must have missed that completely. I remember it, but I don't recall the balanced part. I can tell you, I'm not balanced. Not at all. I'll have to go back and read that part again.

I have to agree, whatever you focus your attention on will expand. Scarey really.

Anti-war movements should focus on Peace. So basically, whatever you don't want, focus on the opposite. If you want to get in shape, don't focus on being fat. I've got a lot of work to do in this area.

[Big_Sissy]

Originally Posted by Mamallama

BS, how do I edit what I just posted? Do I click edit, retype and then click save? When I tried that it didn't seem to work.

Yeah, that's what you do. Sometimes you'll have to refresh the page to get it to show though. You can use F5 on your keyboard as a shortcut to refresh the page once you re-submit it.

[5ft Diva]

It does that to me sometimes. I just click on Go Advanced and then save it. I don't know why it works but it does.

Those are some good thoughts guys.

When I first read about feelings and emotions my initial thought was cause and affect. It made perfect sense! I really appreciate understanding what purpose my feelings and emotions serve. It's cool, and it helps me respect my kids' and spouse's feelings more consciously now.

[Big_Sissy]

Agreed, and yes ML, what Diva said is the cure for that particular problem. Not sure why it does that either.

[Mamallama]

Thanks for the editing tips. Go advanced worked! So guess what I dreamed last night?!

I dreamed that my dh, me and my two girls were at this obstacle game course. We climbed this ladder and found at the top that we had to walk across a long tight-rope in order to get back down. My dh ran all the way across the tight-rope with no problem. I was next. My first step out, my foot slipped off and I fell, but not all the way down---I caught the rope with my hands and was just hanging there. It really scared me. I was just shaking.

I swung my legs up over the rope and sat on the rope and scooted myself across----deciding that there was no way I was going to risk standing up again. Another lady was coming the opposite direction, and was doing the same thing, but scooting towards me. We had to kind of climb around each other to get past each other, again I fell and was hanging onto the rope with my hands----I got back up again, and continued scooting myself across in this sitting down position and finally made it across. My girls came after me---but both walked upright across with no problems Send this in for dream analysis please...................I can venture some guesses......................... I don't even want to know what it means, but it sure is funny that I dreamed about tight-ropes after posting my last post...................I

[Mamallama]

I love your thought BS: "So basically what you don't want, focus on the opposite." and your example of how anti-war movements should focus on peace...etc... Great food for thought!!

And like you 5D, this is really helping me to understand and to reflect more deeply about the feelings, and emotions expressed of my family members----it's helping me to gain a little better understanding of them already just thinking about this all.

[5ft Diva]

You know, if you look at how the Prophet approached 9/11 they talked a little bit about the calamaties of our time but then urged us to pray for peace. You can see that's just how the Lord works, it's us who aren't up to speed.

[Big_Sissy]

Hey, I just happen to know a dream analyst. Her post is just above mine.

[5ft Diva]

I have a book on dreams. I couldn't find what everything in your dream meant but here's what I did find. I think it's fun to see the different meaning of things. Know that this all came from a book. Take it or leave it.

Falling: Dreams about falling usually occur as you are "falling off" to sleep. They may be triggered by a drop in the blood pressure, a movement of the fluid in the middle ear, or a limb dangling off the side of the bed.

Some psychologists believe that these are archaic memories from the time when the ancestors of humans were tree-dwelling primates. The ape-men that survived their fall passed on their genes with the memory of the event. The dead ones did not. And that's why so often you dream of falling but of never hitting the ground.

As a symbol, falling highlights a loss of emotional equilibrium or self-control. You may fear "letting go" in real life. Anxiety usually accompanies this dream. It may represent your insecurity, a lack of self-confidence, a fear of failure, or an inability to cope with a situation. You may have noticed something unsafe-a loose stair rail, a wobbly ladder, or an insecure window. Check it out. The dream may be a warning.

Fear: Bad memories, feelings of guilt, self doubt, worries, anger, desires, insecurities, and anxieties are often pushed out of your waking thoughts and repressed. Nightmares occur when these hidden fears force you to pay attention to them. This is an opportunity to discover what part of you is threatening to destroy your inner peace. What is it that you fear so much tat you have to push it away into the darkness of the unconscious?

Foot: Your dream may be telling you to be practical and sensible. "Keep your feet squarely on the ground," says your unconscious. Alternatively, you may be reconsidering your direction in life or questioning what your life is based on. For a Christian, dreaming of washing feet is a symbol of forgiveness. In India, the feet of the guru are considered the holiest part of the body and a symbol of the divine.

Husband: This may simply be a dream about your relationship and your unconscious feelings about him. HOwever, you may also be projecting other qualities into this dream image. He may sometimes represent your father or the male side of your own personality.

Ladder: A ladder may represent the different levels of consciousness between man and his divine self. It is a symbol of achieving personal wholeness. As a worldly symbol, climbing a ladder may represent progress such as achieving status, power, or an important goal. Descending a ladder may represent the opposite or an escape from your spiritual responsibilities.

Obstacles: Dreaming of obstacles to your progress can indicate that you are uncertain of your ability to acheive your goals in life. You lack self-confidence and may feel unable to do the things you want to do. You may feel that you are being tested in some way. The barrier may or may not be self-imposed. It may represent a social distinction or some inner difficulty that is restricing your self-expression.

[5ft Diva]

So I gave you the book's version of what might be going on in your head and I'll tell you what I thought when I read through your dream.

There's a lot to this dream. It's jam packed w/ symbolism. I don't know what is going on in your life but remember that when you vividly remember your dreams, pay attention and trust that you were ready to receive it, otherwise it wouldn't have come to you. Sometimes dreams are telling us what is going to happen and other times dreams are about how we perceive everything in our life to be, not necessarily, how things really are.

Here's what I (a dream-interpreter wanna-be) am seeing from your dream.

It sounds like your husband, daughters and you are having or have had a common goal, obstacle, and/or experience. Is it possibly balancing life or something like that?

The obstacle (tight rope) to me says that there is little room for mistakes. Your husband leads the way - with ease and at a fast pace.

You follow and make a mistake on the first try. Scooting across the rope rather than standing up and walking implies there is some sort of an issue of not trusting yourself.

The whole falling thing says to me that sometimes you slip and make mistakes or whatnot but you don't allow yourself plummet - you catch yourself before you do. I find it interesting that you get back up all on your own - I don't know if you're supposed to receive help or not. That's for you to figure out.

The woman who is coming at you, you falling, and getting back up again, says to me that maybe this woman (if you recognize her or maybe women in your life in general) knock you off balance and it sounds like you're giving up your space to her.

Your girls are doing just fine. I don't know if their ability to cross w/o falling represented what you wish you could be doing or that they're doing fine on their own regardless of your mistakes and imperfections. Again, that's for you to figure out.

Something that I have been thinking about as far as the rope goes. I was a gymnast and something I was taught on beam was to never look down because when we did, we would fall, but, if we'd look forward we'd stay on. Do you know if you were looking down when you feel the first time? If your husband was running he was looking forward (knowing what I know about you I'd say he has his eyes set upon the Savior). Your daughters walked across uprightly, this too indicates that they have their eyes set upon the Savior. Now I'm not saying that you don't because I didn't have the dream but is it possible that you fell on the first step because you were looking down instead of forward? Is it possible that you believe that if you fall or make mistakes that it's up to you to get yourself back up? Do you tend to rely on yourself first before relying on anyone else? I really don't know, I'm just throwing out questions.

R.S. Open House, Spring 2007, has a great panel discussion between Sister Parkin, Sister Tanner and Sister Lant. One of the things that they talked about that your dream reminds me a little bit of is balancing everything in our lives. This is smack dab in the middle of their discussion so bear w/ me.

"Sister Tanner: We're all the same. I think we have a unified purpose. And if we were to ask each of you what your personal purpose in life is, I think you would say, "I'm striving to come unto Christ." And this is what we know about women. That is your purpose and that is your goal. But it's a busy existence, isn't it? And that's what we've come to learn about women, that they have challenged, responsibilities, and busyness. Let us introduce you to a woman who is similar to each of us.

Sister Parkin: We might call her our poster woman. (At this point they showed a picture of woman on a poster.) Now if you look at her smile, it could be deceiving. Because that smile may mean that we need to look at someone else who has some burdens and some challenges.

Sister Lant: Now, this poster woman is covered, I mean really buried, in all of the things that she has to do. Each one of these little sticky notes represent something in her life that she is expected to do. All of the yellow notes represent the things in her personal life, her goals, her expectations, things that she expects to do. The pink ones represents things in her family. She has lots of responsibilities in her family, both for her children, her extended family, her parents. And the blue represents her responsibilities that have to do with her membership in the Church. Some of them go along with the callings that she carries and some of them are things that she knows she's supposed to be doing because of the words of the prophet and the commandments from the Lord. The green represents duties and challenges that she might have connected with employment, or education, or other things like that in her life. So really, she is a very busy woman. Can you relate to her? Do you sometimes feel like this? I do.

Sister Tanner: My question, though, is, are all these sticky notes really helping us with our ultimate goal of coming unto Christ? Now, if we were to balance the sticky notes by color, would that help us any more? I actually think we sometimes talk about balance, but I think that's maybe not the word we are looking for. I think the word we are looking for is focus. How is it that, in spite of our busyness, we can keep a proper focus so that we are prioritizing and doing the right things for the right reasons?....."

That's all I'll give from the open house, but I would recommend reading it, it's a great talk.

Anyway, ML, if there's any chance that this dream was a representation of how you feel you're balancing life and how you're getting through life while balancing it, this might be one answer for you. Again, I'm not judging you, I'm not thinking anything. I am just asking questions and telling you what I think, but remember, you had the dream. The answer lies w/in you. I'm just some lady. Sorry so long.

[Mamallama]

Thanks for taking the time to analyze this 5D. This is way cool.
I love to ponder over stuff like this and think about what it all could mean. I think I'll print out what you wrote----and mull it over in my head for a while. It's very interesting hearing your perspective!!

Oh and when I first stepped onto the rope, I was looking straight ahead, but the rope jiggled so I immediately looked down, lost my balance and fell---- does this mean perhaps that little things distract me from my goals too easily......

I didn't recognize the woman coming my way....."do women in my life in general knock me off balance?"......very well could be. Really interesting thought 5D.....

Thanks again

[5ft Diva]

Originally Posted by Mamallama

Oh and when I first stepped onto the rope, I was looking straight ahead, but the rope jiggled so I immediately looked down, lost my balance and fell---- does this mean perhaps that little things distract me from my goals too easily......

That's a great thought....could be. Only you have that answer.

What happens to me as I'm going through my dreams is that if I guess what something in my dream could be and I'm not correct, then I don't feel anything. When I start to head in the right direction, then I start to feel a resonating feeling w/in me and when I hit it on the head my core is literally vibrating. It's like the hot/cold game. I don't know if this is what will happen w/ you but my point is that if you are right about little things distracting you from your goals, you may know it by how you feel when you consider the idea. Hope that made sense.


Everybody's so different. Tell me how you figure out the answers. I'd be interested to know.

[Mamallama]

I need to think about all of this for a little while....I feel like several AHAA moments are hitting me all at once, if that makes sense....I need some time to process all of this....this is good for me!
Thanks for your thoughts 5D.....

[5ft Diva]

Makes PERFECT sense. I told you your dream was jam packed w/ symbolism. It's awesome!

[Big_Sissy]

What's awesome is this conversation! I really enjoyed it.

ML, thanks for being open and allowing us to be a part of your dream. I know you are a very shy person, so this can't be easy, but I'm really enjoying it.

And thanks Diva, for sharing your thoughts, I learned a lot about the process you use. I did not know the part about how you tell if you are wrong or in the right direction. Very very interesting.

Again, thank you both.

[5ft Diva]

I had one more thought about your dream, ML, when I woke up this morning. You may have already figured out what this means already for you but, to me, it may be that you think you're the only who messes up or struggles or makes big mistakes in life or that only bad things happen to you. I'm not sure which one. But something along those lines since you were the only one who fell (twice), not even the other woman coming at you fell - it was only you. It could also be that when you fall it's not your fault, it is somebody else's (the rope jiggling when you step out onto it and the woman coming at you). It's possibly an indication of how you feel about yourself and others around you or just about life in general. Just a thought. Sorry to add more to your plate of things to think about.

I'm giving you these interpretations based off my experiences and my perception in life so my insight on the matter probably is more revealing about me than your dream is about you! That's scary!

[Meticulous madness]

I am absolutely fascinated reading all of this, too.

I loved the quotes from the books, the thoughts you guys have about the book, the dream (the fact that you remember such detail and your willingness to share it), the possible interpretations and symbolism, and the talk about focus and balance! Awesome stuff.

[Erudite]

Originally Posted by 5ft Diva

I have a book on dreams. I couldn't find what everything in your dream meant but here's what I did find. I think it's fun to see the different meaning of things. Know that this all came from a book. Take it or leave it.

Falling: Dreams about falling usually occur as you are "falling off" to sleep. They may be triggered by a drop in the blood pressure, a movement of the fluid in the middle ear, or a limb dangling off the side of the bed.

Some psychologists believe that these are archaic memories from the time when the ancestors of humans were tree-dwelling primates. The ape-men that survived their fall passed on their genes with the memory of the event. The dead ones did not. And that's why so often you dream of falling but of never hitting the ground.

As a symbol, falling highlights a loss of emotional equilibrium or self-control. You may fear "letting go" in real life. Anxiety usually accompanies this dream. It may represent your insecurity, a lack of self-confidence, a fear of failure, or an inability to cope with a situation. You may have noticed something unsafe-a loose stair rail, a wobbly ladder, or an insecure window. Check it out. The dream may be a warning.

I have an interesting one for you. Look in your book for what flying means. I have a recurring dream (well, I have a couple), but I'd be curious to understand what my flying dream means. In the dream, I can actually fly, but to do it, I have to take these huge running jumps and then I get airborne for about a minute and then slowly I come back to the earth where I promptly go running again so that I can airborne again. Run, jump, fly, run, jump, fly. Over and over. It's always nighttime too, but I'm running down a well lit street in the middle of the city, but there are no cars. I thought the falling was interesting in this dream, because I don't stay up flying for very long.

(I don't have much to say about chapter 1...sorry).