How could a reality check not work?

Hi guys first off merry Christmas today! I have been trying to get into lucid dreaming the last couple weeks here and yesterday something interesting happened. Essentially, I was in a dream and knew I was dreaming. I performed a reality check (finger through my palm) but it didn't work! I still knew that I was dreaming but it was almost like a bit hazy and didn't feel really in control. I was almost frustrated in the dream that my reality check didn't work. I did however manage to use my expectations to make some people perform a certain way but I am really wondering how my reality check could of failed? Let me know what you guys think!

Merry Christmas and congrats on the ld! It is possible for a reality check not to work 100% of the time, after all, in the dream world any outcome is possible. Some RCs would also be more reliable than others and easier for your brain/mind to get them to work. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that we often perform RCs after becoming lucid, so they are like a confirmation rather than a method for becoming lucid. If you want to rely on them for bringing you lucidity, yet are doubtful they may fail, I would recommend trying out different RCs or doing mutliple RCs to confirm it's really a dream.

Merry Christmas! :santa:

Maybe you were subconsciously associating your palm, finger, and the phasing with something other than those things in a way that you would not expect the combination to work out.

I assume you were using your forefinger to pass through your palm. Your forefinger can represent judgment. Your open palm can represent generosity.

Today is Christmas, the season of giving. Perhaps in the dream you could not pass judgment, or make a decision concerning your generosity.

That was just a wild guess. These things could mean other things as well. But the mind has the ability to associate things in the dream with other things, which in turn can affect your subconscious expectations.

Okay great responses guys thanks so much for your help :)

Recently in a Lucid before entering the err umm 'locker room' I decided it might be best for a confirmation :)

Even tho I had seen many impossible things, such as a woman who had newspaper for skin, when I peeled the paper off she had an interior of like white pulp. I should have tried to use expectation expecting a pinata) :)

In any case I attempted to count fingers, push fingers thru hand, stretch fingers, finally I noticed a reflective surface and looked into it, and thought well If I look like that they'll never be able to pin it on me, and entered :)

One of the things I often do is a jump test, often hitting the ground a bit slow and soft but thinking well that felt realistic enough :) he he :)

It sometimes happens to me too—RCs are useful, but sometimes aren't always quite “perfect”, so their use require some care. When in doubt, it doesn't hurt to try it again, or try another RC or two. I primarily use them to confirm I'm dreaming after I've already begun to suspect something odd is going on; I don't seem to encounter cases where I do an RC while nonlucid and then decide I'm dreaming. In this case, they usually work well, but occasionally they'll be a bit stubborn. When that happens, trying a couple of different backup RCs usually works, or I'll just try the same RC several more times until it gives in. Once I've become certain enough that I'm likely to be dreaming, the RCs will eventually behave (or if my lucidity happens to be strong enough, I'll actually realize that I don't really need them because I'm already lucid, and just move on ;)).

The nose pinch is the most reliable....but really after awhile you know it is a dream and dont need the confirmation.