This is a serious post. For those who really want to succeed in having regular lucid dreams and lucid waking lives as well. What you and I need to do is to stop to distract ourselves mentally. And it is not only a question of ability to concentrate and focus the mind. No, it is also about dealing with our lives so that we don’t have so many reasons to distract ourselves.
For instance, the following are examples of things that will distract the mind when not dealt with properly:
Lack of a partner when we wish to have one: You spend time dreaming of the perfect match or, browsing the Internet for pictures of pretty girls/guys.
Having things you should have finished but have not. For instance a college course/degree, mowing the grass or cleaning the bathroom.
Having hurt someone and having bad conscience about it. You should call him/her right away and resolve it!
Having an occupation you don’t like and know you will never be happy with.
Etc…
All those things will give rise to negative emotions. And distracting the mind is the simplest short-term remedy. But as lucid dreamers and lucid livers, we want to be able to be in a state of calm non-distracted focused attention without tension. But this state is so vulnerable to unresolved issues such as those in the list above.
So if we are serious about lucid dreaming, we might have some heavy work to do…
Regards,
Z
PS! By “distracting” I mean things like watch TV/Youtube, be with friends in a non-intimate way, be in an upset mental state, drink more alcohol than you should, reading meaningless magazines, worry about meaningless things, talk about meaningless things, having an inner voice that talks about stupid things, write articles on the Internet…
I disagree with what you perceive as distractions (TV, hanging out with people in a non intimate way, etc…). Everybody is different, and perhaps TV is the one thing that some people look forward to at the end of the day. We all have our own perception of relaxation, and taking that moment out of our lives isn’t very good for our stability. Now, things like a crappy job and unresolved major issues, that’s just bad for your health in general, which is obviously not a good thing.
hmm, guess that applies XD seeing as that’s actualy one of the main topics going on in my life right now - my complete lameness with girls… -
always, school school school…
pfff… loads of people who hate me… bad conscience? not really, just afraid to hurt more people… so “simulating” conversations is often one of the many interesting things going on in my mind
hmm, does school count for that
hmm, social phobia → simulating conversations in “preparation” for “the real deal” would be what fits for me
so an intimate way is okay???
the meaningless things all apply just about perfectly to my situation, and the inner voice(usually in the form of “simulations”) talking about stupid things fits too
good observations