Dreams are incredible. Some people think that they’re just a jumble of nonsense, like a nightly mental defrag without much meaning.
Others say that dreams are when your soul transports to different dimensions and interacts with alien life forms.
While these are on wildly different ends of the spectrum, there is plenty of evidence that dreams can be useful for solving problems.
For example, the guy who invented the sewing machine dreamt he was in some hostile jungle, and the natives were throwing strange spears at him, spears that had holes in the tips.
And the guy who discovered the chemical formula for benzene dreamt of a snake eating its own tail. For those of you with a knowledge of chemistry, you know that benzene is a circular shaped chemical, much like a snake eating his tail.
It’s also been often said that Edison, who was more of a shrewd capitalist than a scientific voyager into the unknown, would sit upright in a chair, in a dark room. As soon as he fell asleep, he would slump over and wake up.
He kept a pen and paper handy, and as soon as he woke up he would jot down any ideas he had for any inventions that might make him some money.
Obviously, wherever he got his ideas from, he had some doozies.
How do you use the amazing power of dreams?
Take any problem or issue you are facing, and run it over in your head before you sleep. However, don’t do it like people do. Most people think of their problems as external “things” that they wish would go away.
But instead, imagine, just for a moment, that there is not only a solution to whatever “problems” you may be having, but the solution will deliver you directly a better, more productive, and happier life.
All you’ve got to do is think of them in a different way.
For example, when Edison was thinking of what filament to use in his light bulb, he didn’t think “Oh man, why do I always end up with such horrible problems? Why don’t they just leave me alone?”
He more likely thought, “Man, when I solve this, I’m going to get PAID!”
Put your issues into this frame of thinking, and run them over in your head before going to sleep at night. Pretend you’re a kid, and you can’t wait to wake up and see what Santa left under the tree.
Think in terms of positive expectation. “I wonder how this is going to work out?”
And then drift off into sleep.
Do this a few nights, and pay attention to any insights you may have the following days.