I never Knew I had Lucid Dreams until Now.

I always thought that having a lucid dream meant having control over your dream until I found this site. I learned from the introduction that a lucid dream merely means that you are aware that you are in a dream. I have been having these since I have been a child, but had no control over them. If I tried to take control one of two things would happen. Most commonly, all of a sudden, everything would get very sluggish and everything I tried to do would have the opposite effect. For example if I tried to run, it would become very labored as if I was trying to run in tar. Sometimes I would even end up losing ground instead of going forward. (Interestingly the same thing happens to one of my sons when he attempts to take control of a dream. His mind works very much like mine. He has even had the same strengths and weaknesses in school that I did. My other son can easily take control of his dreams)
Getting back on track, the other thing that might happen, is I will have control over what I am doing, but by then the dream itself is falling apart. The plot is gone and it is not much fun to be there anymore. If I want to continue with the dream, I usually try to pull myself deeper into the dream. If it works, I lose all control of the dream, but I can continue with it. Otherwise I just wake up.

Also, I wanted to mention that a lucid dream for me is never as vivid as a real dream. Here everyone states the opposite experience. Why would it be different for me?