A GUEST POST: MOTHER

          MOTHERS- the very significant people in our life who play essential roles in our growing up. Here then is a guest post from a high school student sharing to us her admiration for her mom. Basing from her own experience, this reflection will show to us how she valued her relationship with her.

Mother

Mother, mama, mommy or mum-these are just example of names that we usually give to our moms. They're the ones who carried  us while we are in their womb, the ones who`s given us the chance to see the world.  They're the ones who will teach us to be good children for the next generation. They will be the first teachers to teach us to walk, to talk, to write and read. They give us advice on how to live and survive. 

from:www.pixabay.com

They usually teach us to write and read but from those words the most important is that they also love us ,  no matter what, and even though we are at times stubborn and hard headed. In all of these, we've been

grateful for her undying love to us, her children. And that is the essence of being a woman, to give life for a child in an unconditional way. No matter what other people say she will always be there to protect and support for every achievements that a child make.

  

from:www.pixabay.com

In a child's eyes, she`s the goddess.

In a child's dream, she`s the fairy god mother.

In a child's world, she`s the superhero of all time.

And for me, she`s my world and my everything.

by: Romee Christine Gallano 

Are you determined in LIFE?

“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” - Og Mandino

          For many occasions in life, our dreams have been stifled and tested by distractions, failures, and limitations. Yet our hold on our dreams pave the way for us to recover from them. Further, emerging triumphant over them showers us with some light that everything will be smooth sailing. Consequently, we then become inspired, renewed and determined by those challenging  moments in our life. 

from: www.dreamstime.com

          As my favorite inspirational author said, " Failure will never overtake me if my determination to suceed is strong enough"- Og Mandino. We have known many  life changing as well as success stories and they extend to us a reality that life is such a wonderful gift.  

          What is common among all these names? Guy Laliberte, John Paul DeJoria, Ursula Burns, Howard Schultz, LI Ka-shing, Francois Pinault,  Leonardo Del Vecchio, Kirk Kerkorian, Sheldon Aseldon among others? They are just some of the rags-to-riches stories so familiar in the business world. They all grew up in a similarly difficult and deprived situations yet on the later part of their lives, they succeed in turning their fate into a wealth and put their names on top of those successful people in the world.  

          Presently they join the list of the world's billionaires. Their stories just showed to us that in life,  no matter how deprived a person is yet if he is determined enough then sooner or later, he will also fulfill his dreams. Life's toughest challenges come to us in various forms and to be able to overcome them, we need to be determined and persistent. Indeed, we may falter and fall down a thousand times however what counts the most is our desire to rise up and to try again. 

          On the other hand, I would like to share another favorite quotation of mine, " There's comes a time when our personal calling is so deeply buried in our soul as to be invisible. But know that it's still there"- (Paulo Coelho).   This just shows to us that for those times wherein we seem to lose our goals and sense of direction, what will help us grab a sense of light is our awareness that deep inside of us lies our deepest ideals and aspirations.

from:www.dreamstime.com

          Life is like that of a spinning wheel as what others would claim. During times of self- evaluation, we can then identify those challenging moments however looking it on a positive point of view, it becomes noteworthy to mark those events in our life wherein we learn to embrace life's crosses- those difficult moments that tested our strength and determination in life. 

          Moreover at the end of the day, we may   recall back those trying moments and smile at the way we emerge triumphant over them. Let us all  move forward and turn every challenge that comes our way into an opportunity for growth and self fulfillment. Be determined in life.

ON FIDELITY: SOME QUOTES TO PONDER

          Fidelity- what really is it anyway? There have been numerous meanings related to fidelity. Some may sound realistic and others tend to be so idealistic. As time passes by, great minds have shared their experiences and ideas with regard to fidelity. Allow me to quote some of those thoughts and share my own sentiments on them.

"Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose".

Helen Keller

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/fidelity.html#ySMhyu2Ihi51yJYW.99 

from: www.kozzi.com

          When we practice fidelity in a relationship, it becomes our virtue and a guide to sustain and improve the quality of our relationship until it reaches an unswerving stage. Whatever the nature of our relationship, it is our ability to keep up with our commitment that is valued. As shared above, real happiness means denying one's self satisfying tendency and rather, put in first place the other person's welfare. Although freedom is inherent in each individual, it negates the fact that one could just ignore the rights of the other especially the right to enjoy life. No matter how we present man as a self gratifying individual, he is still capable of reflecting real needs from mere wants.   

          Thus, staying faithful is in no way entertaining the idea of self gratification but rather, it considers on a deeper level the dignity and welfare of the other.  

from: www.kozzi.com

"That in affairs of very considerable importance men should deal with one another with satisfaction of mind, and mutual confidence, they must receive competent assurances concerning the integrity, fidelity, and constancy each of other".

Isaac Barrow 

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/fidelity.html#ySMhyu2Ihi51yJYW.99 

          The idea of self giving is what seems to be the perfect goal in any relationship. One should be constantly willing to make sacrifices for the beloved. To be altruistic, self satisfaction is relegated to be the next priority over the  welfare and the happiness of the other. Moreover mutual trust and support for each other must be met. Basically, this is a challenging one given man's complex nature which is both pleasant and unpleasant, rational and irrational. Again in order to meet a  relationship that is built on fidelity and trust, man needs to set aside, tamed and control his negative tendencies and invariably displays the desirable ones. 

"He who is faithful over a few things is a lord of cities. It does not matter whether you preach in Westminster Abbey or teach a ragged class, so you be faithful. The faithfulness is all."

      - George MacDonald 

           Faithfulness is everywhere and anywhere. Consequently, it goes beyond time and space. No  matter what state of life we are in, we are all invited and challenged to stay faithful to whatever commitment we are in. Being successful in maintaining fidelity within our relationships, we therefore detach ourselves from allowing any emotional distance between us and our partners. Finally the challenge  of maintaining the positive emotional entanglement in our relationship remains steadily present. 

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

“Count your blessings. Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move forward the life that God intended for you with grace, strength, courage, and confidence.”- Og Mandino

by: MINDER, www.pixabay.com

          Augustine "Og" Mandino II, a famous inspirational author, was once an alcoholic in life. Consequently, his family including his wife Mirriam and their only child abandoned him. Such predicament was so intense that he reached a particular point in his journey that he was entertaining the idea of committing suicide. What changed his life was when he made himself busy by reading books of self help. He then eventually became a famous writer and  speaker. (Source: Wikipedia-the free encyclopedia)

          Indeed, we all have our own "Og Mandino story" in our life. A certain point wherein we seemed overwhelmed by those odds before us. Life is such a colorful journey that it is but natural for us to encounter its ups and downs making it more interesting to live by. Amidst of all life's colors, it is so noteworthy for us to also count our own blessings. 

          No matter how we assess life as a struggle, as a constant battle between right and wrong, a persistent tug of war between two opposing forces of this earth, still we all need to embrace all the goodness that we have received and experienced. These are the so-called blessings in our life. We need to count them....we need to constantly remind ourselves that after all, life is still one of the greatest gifts we have received from somebody up there. 

by: TPSDAVE, www.pixabay.com

          May we not merely focus on what others have, may we not be overcome by our limitations such as discontentment, disillusioned, remorse etc for they will just make us blind to see as well as appreciate our own giftedness. Let us count our blessings everyday and thank whoever give them to us. Being as such, we are also invited to share these blessings with others especially to those people who have lost their will to move forward. 

          Remember always the wonderful feeling when we realize that we then become instruments for others so that they will also see the light after each of every darkness that comes into their life. Just like the example of Og Mandino's life, may we constantly strive to get up and face the world after every fall. 

WHY WE ALL NEED A SUPPORT GROUP?...

          " In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic. The help may take the form of providing and evaluating relevant information, relating personal experiences, listening to and accepting others' experiences, providing sympathetic understanding and establishing social networks. A support group may also work to inform the public or engage in advocacy."- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

          We all need a support group in our life. As the famous saying goes, " No man is an island." The sense of belonging is such an essential element in our being persons. We could not just ignore the presence of others in our life. Have you realized why we are created unique from each other? There could be many answers to this query yet personally, I believed that we are created to be like that for us to realize that we need each other. Nevertheless, there are several groups that we can claim as sources of our support as well as joy and to name a few, here are some of them: friends, classmates, co-workers, relatives, cyber friends so on and so forth. Thus it is very noteworthy to discover and to identify those groups which are making relevance to our life. 

by: WEBSI, www.pixabay.com

          We should not be daunting in life for there are plenty of people out there trying to provide us unconditional support no matter what is in store for us in the future. Each of our dreams is reachable and trekking the way to get hold of it is possible through the presence and assistance of people in our individual support group.We  may stumble along the way yet this will not hinder us to go on and proceed with our journey. There would be changes and even u-turns along the road and there could be distractions in any form however with our will and determination, reaching these dreams will be possible. 

          Finally, all my life I have been receiving support from my own significant group thus it has become a part of my daily  undertaking to communicate with my own community- the community that I love and which accept me in return including all my shortcomings

. 

Love Prospered By Time

          Love prospered by time, that fills the memories. Memories are forever that makes us smile for a while even amidst confusions. Heart always beats, even feeling discontentment and suspicion sometimes. Heart is the reason for breathing, so asfor dying. Likely, few become insane, desperate, and unhappy bearing the fruit of mishandling the relationship. 

from:www.kozzi.com

          In crossing through the waves of adversities, the strength comes not from the paddles but the hands that hold the latter. As a cliché says, “It takes TWO to tango…”, therefore, partners form the strength to strongly overpass the challenges. 

         Love’s worth is more than a life. No one knows the fixed price. It has no monetary value. Some think it pays lower; some think it pays higher. Misunderstanding happens because we tend to gain back the price of how much we invest. Loving is not to outgive but to forgive.

from: www.kozzi.com

          So, love as much as you can, considering his incomparable sweetness and caress despite imperfection. Understand that everybody hasn't the same MENTAL and EMOTIONAL ABILITY as yours to interpret and perceive things happening. Indeed, same as you, no one is PERFECT!!! Besides, we have angel/s to inspire us daily...

by: ELSIE ALVARADO-ANDALES 

      Guest Blogger

WHAT REAL LOVE CAN DO...

          LOVE is such a very complex and vague matter that many meanings are attributed to it. Yet in the midst of all these complexities, there still exists a reality that true love exists. Indeed, it takes a while for true love to prosper. It is like  a rose  that needs to be consistently nurtured so that it will blossom into a beautiful flower. 

from Kozzi Inc.'s Portfolio

          Try to reflect on your own relationship in life especially in marriage. As the years go by, when the two of you being husband and wife reach a level of deep understanding for each other thus resulting to a feeling of being mutually comfortable with each other no matter what the situation is, then both of you can claim it to the world that real love exists between the two of you. 

      True love also happens when one could learn to forgive and forget everything painful that is done to him/her. That in spite of the pain with its natural tendency to inflict pain in return, it is rather forgiveness that is showered to the other party. Real love is ready and eager to do everything for the welfare of the beloved. 

from Kozzi Inc.'s Portfolio

          In the midst of life's suffering especially in one that is inflicted by another party within a relationship, the ideal response should be to embrace sufferings and to shower forgiveness. Meanwhile, suffering is the most difficult thing in life that we all want to eliminate or  at least avoid it. It may be either physical, mental or emotional but we cannot fully understand why it exists and affects our lives. Suffering is so much a part of life that we must accept and go through with courage and patience.  

          Our hope for perfection in any relationship surely does not make our sufferings less real and painful. The only possible answer to this situation is a real love that is radiated from one's heart. To be able reach this level, we all need to ask for grace and wisdom to go beyond what is superficial in life. While it is so difficult for us to grasp the real meaning of love, we can nevertheless open ourselves to whatever grace where we can get strength on. 

          Hence,  may this be our constant desire to enter into a relationship where true and real love exists.

GLOBAL WARMING: Am I personally Affected By It?

          Global warming is such a worldwide phenomenon and is actively affecting every human being on this earth. It is such a massive issue that nations big and small are having serious discussions to asnwer to this recent worldwide challenge. As I read in one of the blogs which refer to this subject as a serious phenomenom affecting everyone and everything on earth, its writer Rafi Miller said, 

" For most scientists, the evidence is overwhelming. They see it in the data, the models, and the massive climate shifts happening before our eyes. Every authority on climate, including NASA, NOAA, AMS, NAS, AGU,ACS, and APS, warns unequivocally of a grave threat to our welfare."

          It is then very evident that global warming's threat is such a very serious one that it entails an urgent action as well on humankind. Rafi Miller continued, 

        "This is an obviously tragic sentiment. But a serious question underlies it. And among my friends, it’s often the first question they ask once I explain the gravity of the disaster we face. What can we do about global warming? Do we have to give up our cars and air conditioning? Are we supposed to turn our economy upside down with new regulations? Should we board spaceship and move to the moon?"

          There are several answers to this questions yet it is most probably beneficial if we can also personally ask ourselves on what can we do in a special way to help prevent global warming's worsening threat to humanity and the world.

          We can think of so many things to answer this question. Some of those are through information drive. We need to inform ourselves how serious is the effect of this climate change to humankind. Recent man made catastrophe such as intense heat stress, more universal drought, uncontrollable wildfires here and there, fatal epidemics, the rise of sea level,  disastrous floods and many other local effects just visibly manifests the fatal effects of climate change.Thus, it is very positive to constantly consider whatever ways that can make us positive contributors to stop the spread of global warming. Several grassroots response that we can think of can be any of the following: energy, forests, education and agriculture. 

          Worldwide, there are several actions undertaken by groups to respond positively to this challenge on climate change. Numerous actions are undertaken such as the program to provide electricity to 500 students in Belize, the project to provide 1,500 clean cookstoves for Haitian families, the program to conserve thousand of acres of Tanzanian rainforest so on and so forth.

          Thus, may we consciously participate in our own ways to take part in these activities. Let our desire to extend concretely to these worldwide projects to stop climate change grow intensely day by day. Let us be persistent in educating ourselves on climate change's negative effects. Let us unceasingly ask ourselves, " How can we become agents of change to counter the evil effects of global warming and climate change to humankind?" 

WE LOVE YOU MAMA...

           We have basically various significant people in our life. We can name all of them yet personally what comes out as one of the most outstanding is that of our MOMS. Indeed our mother extend several sacrifices and their LOVE for us is beyond any price and timeless. Thus I would say that mothers play a crucial role in our development especially on our stages like when we are still babies, toddlers so on and so forth. Their LOVE is unconditional just like that of Mama Mary and we should always reciprocate this love with a genuine LOVE as well.

          Thus here below, I am sharing this reminder with you to remind us on the importance of our MAMAS in our life.

WE ALL ARE ONE IN SAYING " WE LOVE YOU MAMA"......

Kurt Kristoff Jugan and mommy....

THE LORD OF THE RING..............

good vs. evil....light vs. darkness......yin vs. yang.....these are the two contradictions in life.....however for every person there is no safer ground...one has to choose....am i for righteousness or the other way around? ......will you choose good rather than evil?....I believe that everyday we make choices ......and some of these choices lead us either to goodness or badness......

what i think is ought to be so necessary for us all is to endow ourselves a constant time and space to look deep into ourselves what is there deep inside of us......remember everyday is always  a MATTER OF CHOICE ......just like in the movie LORD of the RING the main characters made their choices---to make a difference. Are we ready to do choices which could also lead us into goodness?......kudos......

Every single second counts......

          Just to remind myself as well as others the value of life. First that it is a sacred gift from God and that it is ought to be shared with others. I have that responsibility---in fact-- a very serious one --to take care of my own self. I need not to create complicated ways to do it yet just by takin ggood care of this everyday makes it a very loving way of reciprocating this gift. 

          However, there are many factors in which I can begin with like taking care of my physical aspect and many more (emotional, spiritual, social etc.). There are so many do's and don'ts in my everyday living. Nevertheless, there could be times wherein I would fail in this daily undertaking. Yet at the end of the day, let this be a part of my daily perspective--to look back on all of my daily events and to express gratitude for all the good things I receive during the day and to feel sorry for all my wrongdoings. I may sound egoistic yet that is how the reality looks to me. 

          This is a primary duty to take care of my self growth. On the other hand, I also have that big responsibility to share this gift of life to others especially those who are deared to me. I need other people as well as others need me. That is the beauty of life---that I am able to realize that I am made unique from others so that I will come to know that there is a mutual need for each other. Others may not like me however I will focus on those who will assist me to grow deeper on myself. There is always be beauty in sharing myself with others. Hence, I will always strive for perpection as I am tasked to be and I will always extend this very self with others. There is no appropriate word also to describe when I feel the warmth of other people's care and love for me. 



                                                              

WHAT WILL I DO TODAY?

          Each new day brings lots of potentials to all of us. Different experiences, different people, varied memories. mixied emotions---these are but some of the chapters in our book called LIFE JOURNEY. 

          Everyday that I wake up, questions come out of my mind and what is prevailing to me everyday is the question, " What will I do today?" Upon stumbling this everyday question, it goes down to the very deep of me including my sense of priority in life. Personally this is an important question since I believe that each day brings numerous potentials to all of us. Thus it takes note to keep in touch of our daily priorities so that we can also answer positively the question I posed beforehand.

                               (Photo courtesy of BART MAMARIL)

FAMILY is always a PRIMARY SOURCE OF MOTIVATION

          My daily priorities may vary from time to time yet at top of them is always my family- my wife and my baby Kurt. They are always my daily consideration and that everything that I do daily is always for their own welfare. Knowing their special place in my heart and in my life, I consistently put in mind their own good in whatever I perform everyday. They endow me strength to be full of life in my work and in my other activities. 

          Families may seem distinct from one to the other yet at the onset, what binds them all together is the LOVE that   radiates from one member to the other. Ideally, LOVE seems so abstract yet when it boils down to any family, it then presents itself concretely through the loving gestures and accolades that family members exchange with one another. From the simple words "Good morning dad/mom" to any other act of affirmation such as "You did great in your math subject!", they already show much affection and love to every family member.

LOVE ABOUNDS IN THE FAMILY...

          Thus,  it is my attitude to show respect and love in very concrete ways to my most loved persons in life- to my wife Yanyan and to our baby Kurt. What will I do today" I know what exactly it is and it is to continue showering them with so much love and affection.

QUALITY TIME WITH FAMILY

          One of our considered treasures in life is our family. Thus it becomes a very essential part of our everyday living. Apart from our own life, it is the family that stands as one source of strength for all of us. We can learn bountiful things from our interactions inside our family. Certain values we can attribute to our family are  respect, love, affection, truthfulness, certitude, compassion, faith etc.

          On the other hand, it is very essential to ask ourselves: " Do we spend quality time with all the members of our family?", "Are we willing to commit ourselves to spend more time with our loved ones?", "Do we treat all  members of our family equally regardless of their rank, achievements, roles, etc?"

          These are but just some of the questions that we can constantly ask ourselves since being a family man or woman is a day to day commitment. It is such a wonderful feeling when we see all members of our family bonded together by love, affection, trust, acceptance and mutual support.

BE HAPPY INSIDE YOUR FAMILY

          Moreover, each family is a unique entity of any community. Whatever the uniqueness of each family yet there would always be a unified element among all other families. LOVE then becomes the most important component of every family and this love is radiated to all others. Being able to maintain a spontaneous and a positive relationship among all members of the family will result to a healthier environment. Members then will become more gentle, intelligent and likeable person to others.

          Hence I would like to reiterate that spending quality time with our family serves as a positive tool to produce productive members wherein someday, they will also grow as matured members of our society then finally they will also build their own   wonderful families.

HOW COULD WE BE HEROES to our CHILDREN?

          Trying to check from several sources about what a hero is, I discovered that from these series of meanings for HERO, what stand out as typical among them is that they are all geared towards kindness- towards something GOOD for somebody. Considering our children, they love to identify certain heroes in their life. When they're together with their peers, they enjoy playing the roles of their superheroes. Most common of these are Superman, Batman, Hercules, Darna, and many others. These are but just some of our known superheroes in print and in movies. 

"Heroes are people who transform compassion (a personal virtue) into heroic action (a civic virtue). In doing so, they put their best selves forward in service to humanity. A hero is as an individual or a network of people that take action on behalf of others in need, or in defense of integrity or a moral cause.

Heroic action is:

• Engaged in voluntarily;
• Conducted in service to one or more people or the community as a whole;
• Involving a risk to physical comfort, social stature, or quality of life; and
• Initiated without the expectation of material gain". (from Mike Dilbeck, Founder & President- RESPONSE ABILITY PROJECT, www.raproject.org)

Be a winner in life!

          What are the characteristics and qualities of a hero? Courage, honesty, zeal, compassion, have noble idea, trust, loyal etc -these are but just some of them. Going now to our primary role as parents to our children, are we able to portray these qualities and characteristics to them? Ideally for us to successfully and consistently perform them all is challenging and difficult. Moreover I personally believe that the most urgent call for us towards our children is our being a role  model to them.

 

          And among these qualities of a hero, it is LOVE that unites them together since when one is loving, courage, noble, and others will just naturally flow. Consequently we will be positive in resisting temptations. We can also  endure difficulties since we know from the start that our efforts are geared towards the fulfillment of a dream- that is to witness the positive growth of our children.  

          The present world is befell and threatened by numerous negative things like drugs, poverty, absence of fatherly/motherly image in the home, failure to study, hunger and many more. However in spite of them, we can still contribute to this world's positive growth and development by establishing a home that is full of love. Therefore it now becomes an urgent call for us as parents- to consistently serve as role models and as heroes to our children.

  

WHAT's IN A DREAM?

          Many interpretations are discovered in any dream that we have. And in a day, we could have multiple dreams with varied characters and themes. Sometimes we dream out of fatigue, out of frustrations, out of joy or sadness and at times, dreams just get in the way out of our imaginations and control. Furthermore if we are able to learn how to befriend our dreams, then consequently we can digest multiple interesting realizations and meanings from them. Even those buried emotions are freed through our dreams since when in our waking life, we tend to set them aside and forget them. 

          However, when we go to sleep and have our dreams, these forgotten negative emotions have their way back to our waking life. Thus, no matter how we ignore them in our life yet they also have their own way of letting themselves go and one of those ways is through our dreams. 

          Here's one of the techniques in interpreting our dreams:

1. Try to recall everything in your dream.
2. Take note of all its details like persons, things, emotions (both bad and good), time etc.
3. Of all these details in your dream, focus your interest and energy on any one of them that is most striking to you now.
4. With this chosen one (for example a person), write down all significant things related to this in the dream.
5. Pertinent details will include facial expression, clothing worn in the dream, feeling emoted, variations of emotions, tone of voice so on and so forth.
6. After identifying them, check within yourself and assess their presence in your present life.
7. To do this, try to ask yourself questions such as:
           a) How could I be similar to this person in my waking life?
           b) When am I behaving like him/her in my life?
           c) Where could I identify such character in my self?
           d) Who are my dream partners?
8. When you are able to pinpoint answers to questions above, now try to identify this dream character in your life.
9. When you discover it, then you enable yourself to get hold one of its meanings.

          Just constantly remember to prepare a pen and a paper when you go to sleep. And it is very essential as well that upon waking up, write down everything that you can bring back to mind about your dream. Afterwards, go to the process of interpreting it as I enumerated above. Enjoy dreaming and learning beautiful things from your dreams. 

TIPS ABOUT HAVING LUCID DREAMS

          Dream interpretation is one area of interest to me. I have studied dreams before and from there, I gradually developed to love the world of dreams. Dreams tell us about many things about us especially those which are hidden deep inside ourselves. So many interpretations and meanings of dreams evolved as humankind continued to develop as well. One of its definitions is :  

          DREAMS are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, as well as a subject of philosophical and religious interest, throughout recorded history. The scientific study of dreams is called oneirology. Scientists believe that, in addition to humans, birds and other mammals also dream.

Dreams mainly occur in the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleep—when brain activity is high and resembles that of being awake. REM sleep is revealed by continuous movements of the eyes during sleep. At times, dreams may occur during other stages of sleep. However, these dreams tend to be much less vivid or memorable.

Dreams can last for a few seconds, or as long as twenty minutes. People are more likely to remember the dream if they are awakened during the REM phase. The average person has three to five dreams per night, but some may have up to seven dreams in one night. The dreams tend to last longer as the night progresses. During a full eight-hour night sleep, two hours of it is spent dreaming.

In modern times, dreams have been seen as a connection to the unconscious. They range from normal and ordinary to overly surreal and bizarre. Dreams can have varying natures, such as frightening, exciting, magical, melancholic, adventurous, or sexual. The events in dreams are generally outside the control of the dreamer, with the exception of lucid dreaming, where the dreamer is self-aware. Dreams can at times make a creative thought occur to the person or give a sense of inspiration. (Taken from WIKIPEDIA- the free encyclopedia)

          As such, a wide world of things engulf the world of dreams. Interpretations as well may vary from one dreamer to the other. The art of remembering one's dreams comes out of one's ability to focus his mind on the story itself of the dream. During our sessions, we were told to bring one dream in the class and if one could have a  hard time remembering and bringing a dream to class, he is asked just to bring along with him any story. From there, all of us, participants and mentors, helped in bringing related significance of the dream to the waking reality of the dreamer. Not all of us have the same capacity to dwell again on our dreams. However, experience would tell us that one's constant practice of remembering dreams enable him to bring back everything on a dream to the present moment.

                                                                    

          Yet how could we remember lucid parts of our dream? To answer this query, I would share this research done by one dream author Marc VanDeKeere. He said, 

"Increase your dream recall and write your dreams down in a journal.  You cannot have lucid dreams if you cannot remember your dreams and keeping a journal is a crucial step towards solidifying your intent.  By keeping the journal, your mind becomes saturated with the idea that dreams are important. Your dream journal will become one of the most frequently used tool sin your dreaming bag of tricks. If you have trobule recalling your dreams, then ry the following tips to increase your dream recall.  

INCREASE DREAM RECALL

Upon awakening inn the morning, do not move. Stay in bed for a while and recall your dreams before you flood your mind with everything you are going to do for the day. If you have trouble remembering them try to change your position in bed: lie on your right side for a while, then your back then left: sometimes the position you where in when you had the dream helps increase recall of that dream.   

BECOME FAMILIAR WITH YOUR DREAMS:

Get to know the places, things, and actions you see and do in your dreams (beaches, classrooms, roller coasters etc) " this is why a dream journal is so crucial in identifying your dream signs. 

DO CONSISTENT REALITY CHECKS that is ask yourself frequently through out the  day "Am I dreaming?" Do this regularly. This constant signals ensured that one would remember the reality check. When you ask yourself if you are dreaming, check your surroundings to see if in fact you are dreaming. Try to read something like a text or a street sign. The words or letters may look unstable, or they may have the tendency to change or morph into different letters   and words entirely. Upon checking looking away and then looking back  again, if the letters have altered then it is safe to assume that you are dreaming. "

           Thus, the first step towards fulfilling a successful dream journey is to have mastered these steps to become familiar with the attributes and characteristics of one's dreams. Happy dreaming everyone.