During most of my life I have tended to ignore my dreams as just being the machinations of my mind processing random bits of information. My opinion has changed somewhat in my latter life as I have had some dreams which have had a profound impact on me and in my life.
It was through my dreams that I came to write “Thoughts on Life”. I believe that there is a very profound content contained within the “Seven Attributes of a Happy Person” which are described in “Thoughts on Life”.
One dream, which occurred fairly recently during a time when I was at a very low point of health in my life, gave me a great deal of encouragement and has since proved to be prophetic for me. Since the dream my health has greatly improved.
The dream is as follows: Dream #5 – December 22, 2012
This morning I had a dream – a very powerful and emotional dream. As of late I have been feeling a bit discouraged and somewhat overwhelmed with some health issues as well as some problems my sons have been having with their lives. As I mentioned earlier I’ve had many dreams wherein I’ve been confronted with problems that I cannot seem to resolve. Each time I find a solution then some other issue comes up and prevents me from resolving it. As of late this has changed somewhat and although, I still dream that there is something I’m trying to achieve or escape from and things are very difficult, I have been able to overcome and achieve a resolution. This particular dream is a continuation of that.
In this dream I’m located in an unfamiliar place and stressful things are happening. First there is this issue of my having taken some electronic equipment in for repair and I have forgotten to pick it up. I need it because in this dream either I or my wife are going away and it is needed for the trip. Also in this dream there is someone whom I do not know who has received word that he is in trouble with the law and this has caused him and me to be despondent about it. There is this house that I am in and my wife is busy cleaning it and encouraging me to help keep it clean. I decide that I’m going to take the car and go pick up the electronic equipment, but the car is up on blocks and so I have to go down a hill and pick up my truck and go to town. I go down the hill, but for some reason I need to go back up to the house. This is a very arduous trip and I have to crawl through a very narrow tunnel going upwards which comes out at the top of a very old concrete structure. I have to wiggle and struggle to get out of the opening. I’m aware that I have heart problems and I’m concerned about the effort required to make my way out. I get out and I’m close to the edge of the building. I step on a long bent flat metal plate and it gives way and allows me to step onto the concrete roof and from there I find some treacherous steps on the side of the building leading down to the ground. Fortunately I’m able to make my way. At the time when I climb out of this tunnel leading up to the top of the old concrete structure I hear music. The music is very vivid in my dream and appears to be very real as if being played on a CD player in my bedroom. I don’t recognize the music and there is no singing. But I am singing and making up my own words. I can’t remember what words I was singing or the exact melody of the music, but I still vividly remember the chorus which was “The Streets of Mogadishu Have been so Good to me”. I don’t think that the actual particulars of the dream are significant, but the encouragement this dream gave me was powerful. I take from it that although I have many struggles in my life, through perseverance I shall overcome and will be able to sing this song which in essence means that I will be convinced that life (the streets of Mogadishu) has been good to me. The strange part of the dream was that I had no idea what Mogadishu meant or how it came to be in my dream. After arising from bed I went to the computer to find out what the meaning of Mogadishu was. The following is what I found:
Mogadishu is the largest city and capital of Somalia – sometimes thought to mean the city of the Shah or King.
The meaning of the name Mogadishu:
- Your first name, Mogadishu, makes you self-reliant, creative in practical ways, and an independent diligent worker.
- You work best alone making your own decisions as it is not always easy for you to respond to the advice and direction of others as you feel the need to be in control.
- You enjoy the simple pleasures of life especially activities that take you outdoors.
- You have a few good friends who enjoy similar activities.
- Living much within your own thoughts and finding it challenging to communicate easily with others, you are, at times, too candid and honest in your assessment of situations.
- You feel this separation from others and would give anything to be always lighthearted and friendly instead of serious and shy.
- Although the name Mogadishu creates the urge to be original and self-reliant, we emphasize that it limits self-expression and friendly congeniality with a moody disposition.
- This name, when combined with the last name, can frustrate happiness, contentment, and success, as well as cause health weaknesses heart, lungs, bronchial area, and tension or accidents to the head.
I find that this to be an incredibly accurate description of me.
Below are the words to the song:
The Streets of Mogadishu
- Travelling on Life’s highway put me to the test.
- But on the way my heart was fed.
- Though there were level roads and rugged roads, none quite like the rest.
- Still on the path I looked ahead
- Through trials and tribulations, crossing waters wide
- Knowing I’ll reach a calmer tide.
Refrain:
- The streets of Mogadishu have been so good to me.
- Though danger lurks all around
- Life can be a struggle, but there’s a Higher Power
- And I have surely been blessed.
- Pondering, remembering all the joys of life.
- Thinking of times so long ago
- Pondering, remembering all the ills of life
- Trusting I’ll triumph as before
- Neither trials or tribulations, storms or waters wide,
- Can silence faith as my guide
Refrain
Interlude
- Through this life I’ve discovered two most precious gems
- Love and Compassion, my friend
- Seeking the greater good of all created life
- Will lead to betterment for man
- For each of us is part of life under the sun
- One for all and all for one
Refrain
- Emptying, surrendering all that defines me
- E’re trusting to a higher power
- Emptying surrendering all that I can see,
- Freeing a wonderful power
- For letting go of worldly things; only mine on loan
- Gain what I can forever own
Refrain
- By and by I’ll reach my goal at the journey’s end
- All hurdles passed and cast aside
- By and by I’ve come to greet challenge as a friend
- Making my faith both strong and true
- For trials and tribulations, storms and waters wide
- Taught me that faith is my guide.
Refrain
Below is the song. I hope it means something to you as it means a lot to me.
DREAMS
Dreams #1 and #4
There are two additional dreams that I have had which I believe have a great significance to this blog and in particular to the section entitled “Thoughts on Life” and the “Seven Attributes of a Happy Person”. I don’t believe that these seven attributes are necessarily complete or that they are necessarily worded exactly right. I also don’t believe that that they are necessarily a distinct seven attributes, but that they tend to overlap and some are more significant then others. These attributes have been discussed and revealed by various other peoples and religions, so I am not unique in discovering them. I do believe, however that there is a profoundness in them and they are life transforming, and anyone who truly searches them out and incorporates them into their life will be amazed at the results.
Dream #1 – Dec. 31, 1997
For two nights I dreamt that I was having a very emotional conversation with God wherein I was telling God how much I longed to please Him and how thankful I was for all the things He had done for me. On the third night I dreamt that I was on my farm out in the southern end of the field. The day was sunny and hot and I was harvesting a very poor crop of grain using my old Cockshutt combine. The land, although similar to what I presently had in Lamont, was different in that it seemed to be nestled beside a low mountain range. As I progressed down the field I discovered an orchard of very tall apple trees. The trees had a small number of very large red apples, all of which seemed perfect. I bit into one only to discover that it was not quite ripe. As I progressed into the orchard I found that I was walking through a large variety of different types of beans, all of which appeared to be ripe and ready for harvest. I looked across the orchard and at the far end I noticed a workbench and it appeared that someone from the land right next to mine was doing some work there. I continued on into the orchard and as I neared the end I noticed green peas growing across the branches. These peas seemed to be rooted on my neighbor’s land. As I continued to look at the orchard I discovered that my sons Chris and Sean were with me. This orchard had not been planted by me and I did not know where it had come from. I felt extremely good in the dream.
I woke from this dream and then after a short while I fell asleep again. Again I dreamt and found myself in the Dow Chemical Training Centre with an old acquaintance of mine (Dave McPherson). Everything seemed to be going wrong for Dave as he was trying to set up this training center. The heat went off in the building and the water lines froze and broke. As he went outside a large tanker truck came along and it appeared to run over him. I ran after the truck to try and tell the driver what he had done, but I got caught in under the back of the truck and could not get out. The truck started to move down the highway and I was unable to get out and tell the driver what had happened. I felt frustrated and stuck as I continued to go with the truck. I was unable to help my friend Dave or to tell the driver what had happened. After this I woke up.
I did not know quite what to make of this dream and I tended to just let it pass as being insignificant. However, in hindsight, I believe I need to examine it a bit more carefully. Although I don’t believe the characters involved in the dream have any significance, I do believe the theme of the dream does have great significance. This has been a recurring theme in many dreams that I have had throughout my life. I’m in a situation where I’m either trying to escape from something or I am trying to get somewhere or achieve something and there are continuous barriers to my trying to attain my goal. No matter what I do barriers constantly come up to prevent me from moving forward and achieving closure. It seems that the only way to escape is to stop struggling and let go and just wake up. I have come to believe that this is about Attribute number 2. The only way to stop having these dreams and/or to stop them from overpowering one is to SURRENDER. To stop struggling and they disappear.
I felt a great deal of elation for about a week after having the dream about the orchard.
Dream #4 – January 10th, 2012
I had another dream today which I believe has some linkage to dream #1. I was out in our garden area in Vernon and it was during the month of January, but the weather was unusually mild. I was between some shelving which was outside in the garden. The ground was quite muddy and moving in the garden was difficult. I had a wheelbarrow part full of berries (Saskatoon’s I think) and on the shelving on both sides were multitudes of tomatoes which were getting very ripe. The spacing between the shelving was such that the wheel barrow just fit in between the rows. The tomatoes were extremely ripe and many where starting to rot. I could not understand how this was happening at this time of year and at the incredibly warm weather we were having. My wife, Lovena, was also out in the garden with another wheel barrow and she was gathering up vegetables as well, I remember thinking to myself that I was going to make tomato soup as well as some homemade ketchup. I also remember thinking that I must also contact my sons so that they could come and get some. After this I woke up and told Lovena about my dream. I thought to myself this dream is connected to my first dream. In my first dream after tasting the beautiful apples I noticed that they were not quite ripe, but in this dream, the tomatoes were extremely ripe. From this I assumed that whatever was going to happen was about to happen soon.
The fourth dream suggests to me that the fruit that I dreamed about in the first dream is now ripe and ready for the picking. The time of the year would appear to be in the winter as it is now in the winter or at the very least the late fall of my life.
The question is “What is this fruit that has ripened and was not planted by me or the result of my efforts, but was planted in me and in my life?” I believe this fruit is in the ripened form of what I call “thoughts on life” – in particular the “Seven attributes of a happy and joyous person.” These attributes are not something new that I discovered, they are covered in many other religions. The problem I find is that most religions are so bogged down in their dogma and so insulated from one another that they have difficulty seeing the forest for the trees. I have merely taken them and expressed them according to my understanding and the culture wherein I live. I doubt if I have expressed them exactly as should be or are they necessarily complete. However, I do believe that there is a profoundness running through them that should not be glossed over. If you truly want to find happiness, the Kingdom of Heaven, or Nirvana this is a good place to start. Just reading them will not get you there, but spending the time and effort to understand them and incorporating them into your life will bring about amazing results in your life.
