Dreams: Crossing a Bridge

Every so often I have one of those dreams that wake me up abruptly and feeling disoriented.  Those are the ones that seem to consume my thoughts trying to sort out random details, piecing them all together and searching for possibilities of hidden meaning.

Last night I had a dream that I was standing on one side of a long bridge that crossed a massive body of water.  I knew I wanted to cross but the wind was strong enough for me to question whether or not I should even try.  My first thought was to drive over but then realized that my only option was to walk across it.  I stood beside a large concrete wall shielded from the wind and poked my head out to evaluate the situation before proceeding.  As I looked around I could see the surface of the water rippling infinitely, the wind pushing against me and the sting of my hair on my face.  I couldn't decide if I really wanted to go and then I reminded myself that this bridge has been here long before me and thought of all the people who have probably crossed over safely.  My only thought was, if this bridge were dangerous, why would it still be here?  I took that as the answer and began to cross.  As I took my first steps over, I found that the only way to stay standing was to lean in towards the wind and to not stop.  I didn't make it very far when I started to hesitate and began to lose my balance.  At that moment I started to panic and woke up.

It took me a few minutes to catch my breath and gather my thoughts feeling relieved that the dream was over but suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of disappointment that lingered on throughout the day.

Here I am hours later still thinking about it, still feeling unsettled and disappointed, only wanting to know...Did I fall????    

Analysis:

Thanks for your dream. Generally, dreams that are this vivid and leave us thinking about them are meant to tell us something important. There are a few major points in your dream that I hope I can shed light to. First, a bridge represents crossing over into a new phase of your life. I would guess that you are going through something in your life that is very important to you. This is usually a major decision in your life such as a new job, relationship, child, etc. Second, water (of any kind) represents your emotions. I'll come back to this in a bit. Third, a concrete wall represents boundaries that are set up. In this case, you say that it has been there a long time and many people have crossed it. This tells me that it is likely a boundary that you feel has been followed by generations before you. Likely set up by family, religion, or a rule put in place that no one argues with. Lastly, wind represents your intellect. Because it is very strong, it tells me that you are very passionate about this. 

Now, let's pull everything together. You are about to enter into a new phase of your life (the bridge). It is very scary, as most major change can be and your emotions are making you a little nervous (afraid of the water below). You feel protected by past generations and maybe even that many people have done this in the past (concrete wall), but you have to take the next step by yourself out of the protection of the wall. You must face the wind and the bridge. In other words, you have to enter this new phase of your life on your own even though you might be thinking about what "could" happen. Perhaps you are over-analyzing this decision which is making the wind stronger and more threatening and it could be making your journey into this new phase much more difficult (the wind makes it hard to walk across the bridge). To answer your question about falling off the bridge: no, you didn't fall off. Your emotions and your head took over and woke you up because you weren't ready yet.

My suggestion is to think about what is going on and where this concrete wall is coming from. Visualize yourself walking over the bridge with ease and peace and excitement about what's on the other side. On the other hand, if this is a decision that you really don't want to make then you should look into that further. Once you do some visualization, try thinking about the dream before you go to sleep and telling yourself that you want to cross the bridge and that you know you can do it.

I hope that helps you. I'd be interested to know what is going on in your life and what this decision could be. If there is anything else I can help you with please don't hesitate. Keep me up to date as to your progress and good luck! It's very exciting when we enter into a new phase of our lives so embrace it.

Sweet dreams,

Chrysta