I had a nightmare. A real terrifying one.
Luckily, it was a dream, and I woke up to everything normal, absolute routine. But that feeling that tension prevailed into my subconscious mind, infected my conscious mind, and made me uneasy for some time to come.
Flashback, The Dream
I, with my family, were in an alto car, the car we owned, stuck in the middle of a dry land that has no end. It was dark, and our headlights were the only light source. We were driving aimlessly, with me in the driver’s seat, my brother beside me and 3 of them in the back seat. Everyone was sitting tight, in hope to see some light, but not to find any. It was just dark everywhere. Few minutes into our ride, we found the first hint of anything else on this land, a dead tree. This tree had no leaves, in fact just the trunk and a couple of branches. We stayed there for a bit to feel it as our only company and with a hope that it will soon turn bright as the night passes, which never happened.
Soon we were tired, hungry and thirsty. In this hopeless night, we gathered some strength to move a little further in search of some hope, and hey, there it is.. We found a deserted petrol pump with a small store besides it, with no men managing either. My brother and I decided to walk it, aiming the car's headlight towards the store, locking others in the car, guarding us. The food items were all very fresh, which we collected in plenty, for our survival, and moved out.
We are ready to hit the road (the deserted land) again. Car starts, 100mts, 200mts, into the journey Whooooommmm...
Brother: Did you see what I saw?
Father: Yes, I feel so.
Me, clueless, as I too felt the same. It was a white shadow kind thing hovering around, passing our headlight.
We were stunned. Holding it tight, and on looking around, we can sense the number of such shadows around us, not allowing us to move even an inch. Horrifying.. Totally....
Afraid, shattered we were, while deciding to see what happens next, we dimmed our headlights.. It worked; shadows are slowly getting away from us. Seems like they hate lights. We made another effort to move after a while, and bang.. They returned, and in an aggressive mode this time...
Next moment, I woke up....
The Day After
Having a nightmare is the world's worst feeling, as close as failing in a relationship, it haunts you. The day after, I felt high, high on thoughts, high on questions with my subconscious mind continuously thinking of whether we were saved that night or were there to roam aimlessly in that dark land for eternity? This dream refused to leave my mind, even after being explored to 45 degrees of boiling temperature above my head. Nothing looked ok to me the entire day.
That night I slept with a wish that the dream continues, and we somehow find a way out of all this, happily & safely. But the dream... it never returned, leaving behind unanswered questions.
From the Night to Light
“I need to get out of this, it seems like somebody has challenged me with all sorts of problems, with nothing that can differentiate between the right and the wrong, and I have to solve it.”
This thought kept ticking me for a few days, until I had a plan. Using my imagination power, I started recreating the situation and gave it a twist. This will make it interesting & meaningful for my subconscious mind to forget what happened that night.
“Ride & Survive”, I gave this dream a name and imagined it to be a game. I started recreating the scene in my subconscious mind, the same deserted, dark night, the same broken shops, with the same shadows who accompany us, but this time, in a game setup, where-in you have to survive and need to reach the end of this dark land before others do.
Every night while on my bed, I would start thinking about how to win this game. I would think of various scenarios, like if I need to survive, the basics I need is food and water. I would also need some space for my family to settle themselves as Alto is too small a car for a family of five adults. I would need extra fuel, batteries, lights, etc. I also thought of fitting a computer system alerting us of dangers around us, working on sensors, and my brother & wife managing it. We defined roles and responsibilities for everyone in the car, did some car modifications, like fitting a water tank or expanding the car, etc. All this imaginary, of course.
I would imagine the challenges on our journey, think of competitors constantly challenging us, would pen down a plan mentally, and at the end, we survived and won the game.
All of it, totally imaginary, nothing in real, apart from the feeling of being a winner.
Find Your Own Positive
I was quick to transform this nightmare into a challenge, dived deeper into it, fought the way upwards, competed with others, and came out victorious.
Isn’t this an ideal way to be Winner, A Real Champion?
Being successful is all in our heads. Subconscious mind reacts on how we act, regularly. We need to decide whether we want to be a winner, or we just do not want to make an effort to overcome challenges and keep struggling for our entire lives. Challenges are out there, everywhere, but putting your heads up, facing them, and fighting it straight; defines your character. The more regularly you do it, the easier it becomes for your subconscious mind to think positively.
This killer attitude in you ultimately differentiates you from others in the same league. Be brave, fight your challenges and Be a Champion.
