Has anyone else had early success?

I have just found this site and I have had no one else to discuss this with, because everyone else i have talked with about it has never experienced it. I had my first lucid dream about 7 years ago, I immediately woke myself up, I did not have another one for several months, and with that one I managed to stay asleep and manipulate the entire dream, (like in the matrix) Since then I have only had about four other lucid dreams, but in each one I have been able to maintain awareness and control. Has anyone else had this type of experience so early on their discovery of this ability?

Welcome, bear! :D

That sounds somewhat similar to my experience. My first LD was at a very young age, and I woke myself up immediately after realizing it was a dream (a nightmare, actually). I had a handful more over the years, was able to remain in the dream, and sometimes was able to control certain elements. But it wasn't until I found DV, and discovered that other people could do this at will, that I really learned how to take control of my dreams. I still don't have excellent control -- it seems to depend on the stress level in my life and how well / how much I'm sleeping.

When I was younger, a couple of times I managed dream re-entry, but it was more me controlling the dream than knowing I was dreaming. It really just differes from person to person.

I have been LDing since i was very young, I repressed it for a while till it came back full force. Kinda like shaking a soda bottle then opening the top. When it came back it was overwelming. Till I seached the web and found this site. You should view my first post. Because of this site I have learned to deal. Learned to accept. Learned to love it.

I had my first lucid dream a few months ago - apart from a few times being able to awake myself from nightmares by realising I was dreaming. It didn't last very long and I was too surprised and fascinated to exert myself much. But I was stimulated to read a bit on the net, and a few weeks later, when I had another one, I managed to remember the spinning technique and use it to prolong the dream.

The next time around I tried flying and felt pretty scared. The last lucid dream I had recently, I remembered how scared I had been, and tried flying again, this time reminding myself continually that I was dreaming. I've also used the spinning technique again.