Thread: Oh well, lucidity probably isn't worth it

I suppose this is a pointless thread and hopefully this isn't the wrong place to post, but I don't think I'll try to get my first lucid dream after all.

I have so many problems in real life that I'm always worried about those and can't focus on lucidity. They're not the type of problems that are an easy fix, either.

Anyway, even if I could achieve lucidity, Sensei's stupid descriptions of his lucid nightmares make me not want to try. At least he's being honest about what that can look like.

I did always hope that I could just have a few seconds of lucidity and that would probably be enough motivation to continue. I just feel like I'm missing out without a first lucid, but whatever.

Thanks for scaring me, Sensei. (I'm not mad at you)

I don't think there's any reason to be afraid of nightmares. For one, if you ask around the forum, most of the regulars started lucid dreaming because they wanted to take control of their nightmares, and found lucid dreaming was the way to do that. And even though I'm not one of those people that started out because of nightmares, I can list two dreams in my DV DJ and countless more in my personal DJ where lucidity helped to stop a would-be nightmare.

10/18/16 - Spooky Comp Night 4 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views
Lucid Nightmare - The Inner Workings of Home Depot - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Now I'm not gonna tell you that becoming lucid is going to stop every single nightmare - lucidity is just knowing you're dreaming, but it's up to you to tie that knowledge to the fact that nothing can hurt you and there's nothing to be afraid of.

If you're seriously having problems in real life, it's totally fine to take a break for a while. I've heard tons of stories of people who try to get lucid for a long period of time with no success, and then within a week or two after giving up they just have a lucid dream spontaneously. So if you're feeling overwhelmed, go ahead and take a break, but don't rule out lucidity entirely. That incredibly slim chance of having a nightmare doesn't invalidate the rest of the amazing experiences that lucidity can bring.

You joined in 2012. Since then, I would hope you have read enough of the DV posts to know that lucidity is so much more than nightmares. It's like saying you don't want to have non-lucid dreams because there is a chance you can have a nightmare. The ratio is about the same, if not more favorable in lucids. The difference is, that if you are lucid, you can actually end the nightmare by turning it to something else.

In fact, I never had a lucid nightmare in my 5 years (about 300 LDs). Twice, I felt the dream turning dark and all I had to do is to "think" love and other positive thoughts and the bad thing turned into normal.

And I would hope that you had also noticed from our posts, that not everything you read actually happens to everybody, or with same frequency.

You should take Sensei's descriptions as a way to overcome, rather than blame. You should know, that what YOU think is what will matter. Because that's how dreams work. They are based on YOUR thoughts and expectations.

You are right about LDing not being easy when your head is full of problems. That sure may not allow for putting yourself into happy LDing mood. But you could look at lucid dreaming as something that could be happy and good about your life. Even if your life is not easy, you still go to movies, read a good book, or do something else that is good and fun. You could treat yourself to a lucid dream as well.

But blaming somebody else will not help you. If you know that reading something scary will hamper your dreaming and lucid dreaming, then avoid reading about that. We have plenty of posts with different topics for everybody to choose his motivation.

And personal attacks on someone are very unwelcomed on this forum.

That's kinda like saying you won't ever get on a plane again because you read that there have been plane crashes before. You'd be missing out on travelling to great places and awesome opportunities due to the fact that there is a slight chance of something going wrong. I hope you find a way to deal with your personal troubles

Well, sorry everyone. I certainly didn't mean that to come across as a personal attack toward Sensei. SORRY.

Yes, I have done plenty of reading on the forums and I'm well aware that the vast majority of lucid experiences are positive. I think after so much thinking about lucid dreaming I wished I could just have that first taste of lucidity, so I could at least tell myself I did it.

Obviously, frustration is not what you want when trying to become lucid. Thing is, I don't do anything to induce lucid dreams. Years ago, I would do countless reality checks every day, and that got me some "semi" or false lucids, which was progress, but I always wanted real lucidity. And I'm positive I was not actually lucid in these dreams.

Some good points are raised here, such as plane crashes that are astonishingly rare, and it's no reason to stop using planes. I like that outlook to be honest.

In short, the thing that has gotten me close to lucidity was awareness during the day, but I get way too exhausted to do that for more than about three days. And I don't have confidence that something like autosuggestion or WBTB will ever work for me.

Sorry for the misconstrued insult toward Sensei. Don't know if he'll see this. Thanks everyone.

If I may, don't be so quick to dismiss WBTB. Although it is usually done in conjunction with other induction techniques, such as any variation of WILD or MILD, the simple act of waking up later in your sleep and then going back to bed will make your brain be in a more aware state, increasing the chances of lucidity. If frustration is the main issue at the moment, I would suggest taking a brief break, maybe a couple weeks long. That's usually what works for me with long dry spells related to frustration