We all have ambitions and strive to achieve our ideals of success in waking life. These ambitions often surface in our dreams in symbolic disguise.
According to Adler, dreams are an expression of our ambitious desire for power and success, a way of overcompensating for shortcomings in our waking life.
For example, if a person is unable to stand up to their boss, they may safely lash out in anger at him or her in a dream. Thus dreams offer some sort of satisfaction that is socially acceptable.
Although some dreams can be interpreted as wish-fulfillment, most modern dream researchers believe that dreams have another purpose, to periodically present us with reports on our progress to date. Sometimes these updates are purely expressions of wish-fulfillment, and therefore easy to interpret: for example, those fantastic dreams in which you win the lottery, or audition successfully for the lead role in a Hollywood blockbuster. Sometimes, though, dreams are harder to interpret because the dreaming mind speaks in the confusing language of symbols. Understanding such dreams is, however, important because they often contain pertinent observations and warnings—not yet registered by the conscious mind—that can help us achieve our goals in waking life.
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