I have recurring dreams where I am in college and I am in an unusually difficult math class. In the dream I get anxiety- ridden before the test and a couple of times, in my dream, I wake up the day of the exam realizing that I have an exam that day. A couple of times, I’ve slept through half my exam only to run to the exam, sit in my seat, and realize that I don’t have my shirt on and I’m covered with sweat. I think to myself that if I don’t pass this course, I won’t graduate college. But after I take the exam and leave class, I realize that I already graduated college almost 3 years ago. Then I wake up.

-- Blake

Dear Blake -

Your dream is very common. I would bet that most readers have similar dreams they can relate - be they late for school dreams, can’t find the classroom dreams, can’t find the plane in the airport dreams, unprepared for business meetings dreams, or naked in public dreams! Your dream, in fact, includes a bit of all of these features. Your are unprepared to take the exam, as you “wake up” and realize you have the exam that day, and then you also dream that you are late for the exam and have slept halfway through it, and you are partially undressed!

The common theme in all these dreams is the sense of un-preparedness. It is likely that you feel hurried in your everyday life, and that you often feel you do not have enough time to fully prepare for, and complete, some of the projects you are involved in. In this sense the dream may indicate that you need to slow down a bit and prioritize your time for projects that are important to you. I believe this is a dilemma we all face in our busy, modern lives. We all have so many projects and committments going at once that it is a challenge to give each the attention and thoroughness it deserves.

These types of dreams also can reflect doubts that we may hold about our talents and abilities. We may feel that we were “lucky” to graduate from college (in which case we didn’t really deserve it), or that we really aren’t as qualified for our jobs as our outward, professional appearance asserts. You may be worried about your career as well and the dream is using the stress you experienced before exams at school to represent the stress you are experiencing now.

The fact that the dream recurs indicates that the feelings have been with you for a while now. In any event, I suggest you take some time to think about the dreams, talk about them with your friends if you like, and be receptive to any changes you feel the dreams prompt you to make in your life.