What do I do after a waking reality check?

[TheSheepCounter]

I know this sounds like a stupid question, but I just thought I'd ask. After doing a reality check in waking life (not in a dream), what are you supposed to think? I imagine that if you do a reality check, find out everything's normal, and think "I'm not dreaming", then said situation will reappear in a dream, thus inhibiting any chance of a lucid dream. I did have the pleasure of doing a reality check in a dream (I looked at my iPod screen which said "Are you dreaming?" then I looked at the time which said it was "9:00 SP", but I didn't become lucid). I changed my reality check to one that is less disorienting than seeing a bright screen in your dream. I have a large freckle on my left hand, shaped like a teardrop, between my middle and ring finger. When my iPod alarm goes off, every hour, I stare at my left hand, expecting the freckle to not be there. When I see it, I will it to vanish. Back to my original question: If the freckle is still there and doesn't vanish when I will it to, do I think "I'm not dreaming"? Will that transfer into my dream and destroy any chance of an LD? Sorry for the long post.

[lunagoddess]

Reality checks never work for me, personally. If something triggers me in waking life I ask myself where I am, the date, how I got here, why I'm here, etc. Usually in dreams I don't remember and that's my sign. I end it by affirming to myself that I will remain conscious and aware of any strange signs or situations.

[AstralMango]

After a reality check I continue to have some awareness of the world, still trying to look for anything out of place, or asking myself questions. I do this until I forgot to keep up awareness.

[RelaxAndDream]

reality checks are for a raise in awareness. when you do them without "thinking" during waking life you will dream of doing rc and just keep dreaming. you want to ask yourself not if you are awake but you want to prove that you are dreaming. when the alarm goes off i go like: wait i was in autopilot mode (zoned out) again and unaware. i think i am dreaming. then i do my RCs and try to prove that i am dreaming i look at my hands, see if i find a digital clock or a little text i might read twice, maybe some telekinesis, look around where i am and what i did some minutes ago and what i am doing and why i am doing it and if all this makes sense. after that when i have time i visualize what i would do when i would be dreaming (incubation of dream goals for example) when i dont have time i try to stay more aware and dont zone out directly again. when i go get a tea or something: while i do it i be suspicious if it might be a dream and try not to be lost in my thoughts and find myself 10 minutes later at my desk with a cup of tea where i vaguely know that i get it but nothing more. try to be present and be there and do what you do and not be lost in your thoughts all the time and be on autopilot. nevertheless its a good sign that you dreamed of a rc. you do at least something right now you just need to change the mindset so it matters

[Eamo24]

After doing a reality check in waking life (not in a dream), what are you supposed to think? I imagine that if you do a reality check, find out everything's normal, and think "I'm not dreaming", then said situation will reappear in a dream, thus inhibiting any chance of a lucid dream. I would say that rather than just doing that one RC (trying to make your freckle disappear), and then wondering “what do I do now?“ you could go further by doing a few different RC’s in addition to that one. There is no harm in doing more than one reality check, in fact it would be more beneficial as not only would it increase your “awareness” time, but because you are doing more (perhaps more effective) checks, you have a much stronger chance of truly knowing if it’s a dream or not, so no need to worry about the check failing you when you do it in a dream (well it would be much less likely!). Counting fingers and the nose pinch are particularly effective ones so I would say it’s a good idea to include those, but you can change your RC’s up as well, you don’t have to do the same RC’s every time.