Lack of enthusiasm and its impact on lucid dreaming sucess

Hey guys,
Clearly i have an on, off relationship with lucid dreaming as i am returning for what has to be the 5th time to attempting to attain lucidity. Iv been back to it almost a week now, filling in my dream journal each morning, reality checking throughout the day and repeating my mantra "I lucid dream. I remember my dreams" as i fall asleep most nights. For my RC i look at both of my hands palm up (i have an A drawn on the left palm to remind me to RC) and repeat "Next time i am dreaming i will look at my hands and realise i am dreaming" about three times, i count my fingers to make sure i have ten, then i try to stick my finger through my hand. I then look around for something to read, i read it, glance away, look back and read it again, to see that it remains the same, and finally rub my hands together. I do this ten or more times a day.

The problem is, i want to lucid dream and i think it would be cool but i dont have the same excited enthusiasm as i did the first few times i tried to learn so i dont have that pushing me. Dont get me wrong, i really do want to learn and I do intend to master it finally this summer if i can. I have six weeks left and id like to get as far as having one or two lucids in that time.

So my questions are: Does it matter that i dont feel the same enthusiasm for it this time? Will it hold me back or make learning take longer? What should i add to my routine to help me learn? Are my RCs adequate?

Thanks guys and, as always, this site is brilliant! :)

I don't see why it should be a problem; as long as you're doing the practice then whether your feel or not the same motivation as before is irrelevant to your success in lucid dreaming. Many people who start out put much emphasis on motivation, and they expect instant success with just a few nights of practice. When that doesn't happen, they tend to depress themselves and believe lucid dreaming can't be done, then they don't do anything else to continue practicing. The emphasis should be in action, not whether you feel or not feel the emotional lift to do something. That many people achieve lucidity very early in their practice, yes; that many others take much longer to achieve it, that's also true as well. But, whether you achieve lucidity early or later in time should not be something to worry about. It's people who worry about these things that tend to take longer to achieve success in lucid dreaming. So, relax, enjoy the journey; I guarantee you, as long as you keep doing your practice, doing what works, then you'll have 100% probabilities of achieving your much desired lucid dreams.

About your practice, Have you included WBTB to your routine? Also, maintaining lucid awareness during the day is of much help for acquiring awareness during our dreams. As for the RCs, I have nothing to say about them because I don't use them. I find them irrelevant being that whenever I become lucid in a dream it's almost obvious to me that I'm aware the experience is a dream. So, it defeats the purpose of using a reality check to confirm I am dreaming when I already know that I'm dreaming just from becoming aware of the situation. Though, if RCs are helping you become more aware of your surroundings then by all means continue using them as that is helpful. I just focus more on cultivating a habit of all day awareness when awake, than on a specific action or object to reality check.

Hope this helps. :)

No, it only becomes a problem and hinders your success when you find doing those RC's annoying, stressful, or any other negative response towards them. As long as you dont do that and you also dont do RC's robotically(to the point where they dont even make you aware anymore), then you should be good.

Hey guys,
Thanks for the responses, im glad to hear i wont be negatively effecting my chances of lucid dreaming.
As for what Wolfdog was saying about Rcs, i do find that the times when i became lucid before came from more of a dawning realisation that i was dreaming, followed by an RC to confirm, as oppose to spontaneously RCing in a dream. Though for me the RCs are more of a way to remind myself throughout the day about lucid dreaming and to improve my waking awareness.
I havent done any WBTBs yet, though the times i have woken in the night i have tried. I am a very light sleeper and i have a problem with getting back to sleep once i am awake in the night so i hesitate to disrupt my sleeping intentionally. That being said, i intend to give it a shot a few times this week. :]