Bad Dreams

I always seem to have a variation on the same dream: not being ready.  One dream I remember started with being back in college.  I had a variety of classes, most notably Biology and American Government - two classes where the instructor required you to read the textbook, submit a written summary about each chapter and take a test each week.  Note this requirement was in my dream.  In real life, a class structured like this would have been my definition of hell.  

After the first class, I somehow forget to go.  Midway through the semester, I suddenly realize that wait, I have Biology and American Government classes that I haven't gone to in five weeks.  I now have all this missing work that I need to make up.  Anxious and terrified, I wonder if I will fail the classes and then I berate myself for having made the stupid error of forgetting to show up.

Last night, my dream was about school.  Minutes before the bell rings, I realize that wait, I have no plans for what we are going to do today - and its the first day of school!  As a note to non-teachers, this is really bad.  I hastily run to my whiteboard and try to scribble out a schedule, but my mind can't focus and my handwriting looks lopsided and crooked.  I wake up before the bell rings.

An example of my "I'm ready" whiteboard.

I see in these dreams two themes: my fear of forgetting important tasks and my fear of not being prepared.  While I do not believe that dreams hold a deep meaning, I do think they clue you into what you value and what you may be anxious about.  The best way I know to get rid of anxiety is exercise.  Maybe this is just my brain telling me that I need to go to the gym.