Confused Lucid Dreamer looking for guidance

whats up everyone, my name is brian and im 19 years old from New York. Ive been attempting lucid dreaming for months now and going about it alone, so im looking forwad to having a community I can turn to for guidance...anyway heres my story

Ive been keping a dream log and a symbol on my hand, checking it frequently...a month or so went by with no lucid dream and i became discouraged.

I had my 1st LD a few months ago, and all that happened was I realized i was dreaming, but played along with my dreams plan, did not take advantage

I began to notice in a few of my dreams that i would see 2 of my cat, so i forced myself to realize i was dreaming...the first few times i was on the brink always, found it hard to convince myself I was dreaming...

5 or 6 LD's later, I had a dream long story short that my buddy got his arm bitten off by a dolphin...I realized I was dreaming, and completely and literally stepped away from my dream and did my own thing..it felt amazing to seperate myself from my dreams plan for the first time

In my latest dream, I was able to make someone appear, I invisioned her in a seperate room, went there and sure enough she was there

Im pretty happy with the strides Ive been making, but last night I felt like I was back to square one, I realied I was dreaming but couldnt grasp the fact and take advantage...anyway I plan on doing this for the rest of my life, so i will be a long time member here and look forward to learning and getting better through this sight...any advice or feedback is greatly appreciated, thanks!

Congratulations on your awesome progress, Bmahon26, and welcome to the forum! I hope I can get there (one of these damn days) soon too. Enjoy the forum :D

Welcome! Sounds like you are off to a very good start.

What kind of reality checks are you using? A good realiable reality check is a good way to solidify the fact you are dreaming.

Truthfully I havent used reality checks and I feel like thasts why ive had numerous times where I was aware I was dreaming, but just played along with my dream...there have been times I thought I was dreaming, used 100% of my energy on focusing that I was dreaming, and came up empty, only to go about my dreams routine. Sometimes my focus works and I suddenly snap into the fact Im dreaming, but it has not been reliable. Is there a specific thread with other RC's ? Ik of the basics such as lights, text etc...

but ive found that ive been able to lucid dream because its a big part of my day, even when I et lazy with my log or symbol on my hand, I still have them because I think about it and it has taken a larger place in my brain... When i take a nap mid morning its almost a 60% chance of being lucid, whether I can take advantage or not, its a start because eventually I will be able to take advantage.

just saw the link of RC's. thanks lol

Just so you know, the nose plug RC works very well for me and for many others. Other popular RCs are to try to push your finger through your palm or check a piece of writing or digital clock for changes. But in my opinion, the nose plug is least likely to let you down. You should try doing it throughout the day along with the things you are already doing.

i will ill start that up tomorrow, seems to be popular on here hope it works or me too